LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio decreased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 26.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,503 shares during the quarter. Strs Ohio’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 355 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 580.0% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,493,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in LPL Financial by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 19,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its position in LPL Financial by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 348,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $104,719,000 after acquiring an additional 96,704 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of LPLA traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $308.11. The company had a trading volume of 39,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,353. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $294.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $321.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their target price 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,887 shares of company stock worth $613,144 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.