1,944 Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Purchased by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $694,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,414,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $121,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.2%

LPLA opened at $282.42 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $305.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.09. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $274.93 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was 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 at the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

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.