Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 1,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,166,000 after acquiring an additional 28 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance increased its stake in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,203 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $393,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Sanchez Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $306.02 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $335.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $320.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $369.83.

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.