LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Bought by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 908.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,955,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $308.30 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $349.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $350.97. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market cap of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.