Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 20.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,375 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.9% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.8% in the first 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 lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.8% in the first 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. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 198.3% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,497 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,125,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in LPL Financial by 7.5% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 15,910 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,205,000 after buying an additional 1,114 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total transaction of $235,815.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 16,870 shares in the company, valued at $5,304,265.40. This represents a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,333,105 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $315.24 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $347.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $353.40. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $242.94 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a market cap of $25.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.61.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on LPLA. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price for the company. JMP Securities increased their target price on LPL Financial from $440.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upgraded LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.85.

About LPL Financial

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.