The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 214,773 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company cut its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 559,402 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 214,773 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned about 0.75% of LPL Financial worth $130,134,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 360.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 74.7% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $327.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $330.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $265.66 and a 200-day moving average of $253.40. The company has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.61, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

About LPL Financial

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.