Capital World Investors Increases Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 37.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the quarter. Capital World Investors’ holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,294,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $371,616,000. Dodge & Cox raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,453,000 after purchasing an additional 383,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,667 shares of company stock valued at $855,871. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $288.49 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $331.74. The company has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. Analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.