Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 288.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,740 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,034 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $824,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,952 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after purchasing an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on 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 upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.62.

LPL Financial News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS rose 29% year over year to $5.84, ahead of the $5.39 consensus, while revenue climbed 35.2% to $5.19 billion versus the $5.04 billion estimate. Net income reached $379 million, or $4.74 per diluted share. LPL Financial Q2 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Asset growth and recruiting momentum remained strong. Total client assets rose 34% year over year to $2.6 trillion, advisory assets increased 46% to $1.5 trillion, and organic net new assets totaled $23 billion. Recruited assets grew 35% to $25 billion, while management described the recruiting pipeline as a record and reported 97% asset retention. Why LPL Financial stock is up today
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns and analyst support improved. LPL resumed repurchases, buying back $309 million of stock in Q2 and planning approximately $300 million in Q3; its board also increased authorization by $2.5 billion. JPMorgan raised its target to $428 and KBW increased its target to $390, with both firms maintaining bullish ratings.
• Positive Sentiment: Commonwealth integration expectations improved. The Q4 2026 onboarding remains on track, expected asset retention is approximately 90%, and estimated run-rate EBITDA contribution increased from $410 million to $435 million. LPL shares and Commonwealth update
• Neutral Sentiment: LPL declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, payable August 28 to shareholders of record August 14.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher operating expenses remain a partial offset: core G&A increased 22% year over year to $519 million. In addition, reported data showed 18 insider sales and no insider purchases during the past six months, a potential sentiment headwind.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $353.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $301.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.80% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.51 EPS. Analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.58 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.