LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Position Lessened by Friedenthal Financial

Friedenthal Financial decreased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,674 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 228 shares during the period. Friedenthal Financial’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 8.9% during the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in 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 valued at $426,846,000 after acquiring an additional 105,665 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in LPL Financial by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in 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 valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 1,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 198.3% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,125,000 after acquiring an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,151,836. The trade was a 7.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total value of $28,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,080 shares of company stock worth $1,097,290 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $317.32 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $351.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $353.65. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $236.59 and a 52-week high of $403.58.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup downgraded LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.