Trillium Asset Management LLC Makes New $20.22 Million Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Trillium Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 71,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,216,000. Trillium Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of LPL Financial at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $91,012,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,204,000 after acquiring an additional 5,179 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,998,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $371,616,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 158,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after acquiring an additional 57,362 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $354.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.88 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $325.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.54. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.51 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.