Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management Acquires 1,104 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management grew its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 16.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Gerber Kawasaki Wealth & Investment Management’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised 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 last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 195.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 105,665 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2,319.1% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $460.00 to $463.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $490.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $383.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company’s stock, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $366.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.66. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $372.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $355.67. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $204.41 and a twelve month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The company’s revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

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.