Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 45,367 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,048,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 45,367 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $295,298,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $50,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $370.69 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $333.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.22. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $400.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.56, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

About LPL Financial

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.