Van ECK Associates Corp Has $4.69 Million Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,946 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 164.4% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 770.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 724.2% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 272 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Finally, Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $73,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $270.79 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.83. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $179.00 and a 12-month high of $276.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 56.36%. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.21 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,131,229.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total transaction of $354,834.14. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,419.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was 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 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 have sold a total of 60,151 shares of company stock worth $15,911,088 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.