Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,179 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $28,204,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $26,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth 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. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank lifted its stake in 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, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock opened at $303.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $281.51 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $309.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $342.55.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on LPLA. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Company 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.