Azora Capital LP Has $160.08 Million Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Azora Capital LP boosted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 26.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 448,189 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,833 shares during the period. LPL Financial comprises approximately 10.1% of Azora Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $160,080,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boothbay Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 532.2% in the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,918,000 after acquiring an additional 9,234 shares during the period. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 363,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $129,818,000 after acquiring an additional 52,530 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,351,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, GAM Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $335,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $304.50 on Thursday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $302.25 and its 200 day moving average is $328.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.