JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 19.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 938,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 221,566 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 1.17% of LPL Financial worth $312,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of LPLA opened at $327.92 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.83 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.78, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $364.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.90.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 35.99% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th 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 Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total value of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,344.96. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total transaction of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,581.40. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 5,888 shares of company stock worth $2,182,893 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

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.