LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Position Raised by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,281 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its position in LPL Financial by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,882,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,965,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 228.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 55,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,707,000 after buying an additional 38,839 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 74,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,985,000 after buying an additional 4,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $265.42 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $179.00 and a 1 year high of $274.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $263.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $241.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.83 billion, a PE ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.18. LPL Financial had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 57.68%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total value of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,131,229.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total transaction of $346,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,730,292.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total transaction of $2,563,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,131,229.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company 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.