WealthPoint Financial LLC Takes $2.57 Million Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

WealthPoint Financial LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,190 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,568,000. LPL Financial makes up about 2.2% of WealthPoint Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $293.95 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $302.18 and its 200-day moving average is $328.09. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.