Comerica Bank Reduces Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Comerica Bank lessened its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 79,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,060 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank owned 0.11% of LPL Financial worth $20,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 38.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,375,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 533.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,923,000 after buying an additional 21,481 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,965,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Bank of America raised LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.80.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $7.17 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $214.35. 493,954 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 680,922. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $265.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $200.18 and a 1-year high of $289.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $16.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.90.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 54.38%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.