LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lessened its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 72.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,249 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $91,012,000. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,975,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,204,000 after acquiring an additional 5,179 shares during the period. Finally, Markel Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $199,998,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock opened at $297.62 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $327.23. 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 $23.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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%.

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.