Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $2.85 Million Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 195.1% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after buying an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,304,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,846,000 after purchasing an additional 105,665 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,922,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2,319.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 19,120 shares in the company, valued at $7,151,836. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,080 shares of company stock valued at $1,097,290. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $314.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a current ratio of 3.22. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $236.59 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $354.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $353.87. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.61.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Rothschild Redb lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $395.77.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.