LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Purchased by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 176,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,700 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in LPL Financial were worth $62,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,184 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,952 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 23.2% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 20.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $282.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.93 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $337.09.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. The trade was a 28.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.