Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Purchases New Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,919 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,963,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in LPL Financial by 77.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,249 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $402,312,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,745,000 after purchasing an additional 926,122 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,994,798,000 after purchasing an additional 613,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 444.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 551,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $206,825,000 after purchasing an additional 450,326 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $406.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $453.00 to $444.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $440.00 to $433.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,581.40. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,747,538 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $378.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $365.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $358.97. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.83 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.57.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.16 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 13th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.05%.

LPL Financial 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.