Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 2,645 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 136.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,582 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,645 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter worth $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $289.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $281.51 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $308.39 and a 200-day moving average of $341.94.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,420. This represents a 28.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock worth $2,720,733 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.