JPMorgan Chase & Co. Purchases 258,611 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,197,366 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 258,611 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $427,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 49.5% during the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $289.18 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $302.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.38. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.15 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays upped their price target on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, 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 on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.