Integrated Investment Consultants LLC Cuts Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC lowered its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 29.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,985 shares during the quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,550,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in LPL Financial by 72.0% during the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in LPL Financial by 116.2% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 3.4%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $293.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.53 billion, a PE ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.59. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $342.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $348.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.90%.

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.