Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Boosts Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $795,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dodge & Cox lifted its position in LPL Financial by 224.1% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $498,385,000 after buying an additional 1,053,351 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,795,000 after purchasing an additional 971,814 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 786.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,849,000 after purchasing an additional 851,115 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 550.5% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 759,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,367,000 after acquiring an additional 642,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 238.1% during the first quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $285,026,000 after purchasing an additional 613,555 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total value of $235,815.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,304,265.40. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,333,105. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $339.18 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $27.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.20, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $341.13 and a 200-day moving average of $353.51. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $252.55 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 39.80% and a net margin of 7.91%.The business’s revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.88 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.21%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group set a $455.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, October 9th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $440.00 to $455.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Rothschild Redb cut LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.38.

About LPL Financial

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.