National Pension Service Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

National Pension Service increased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 119,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned about 0.16% of LPL Financial worth $39,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 50.6% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,770 shares of company stock worth $12,663,312. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of LPLA opened at $371.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $27.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day moving average of $351.92 and a 200 day moving average of $294.33. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $384.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.55%.

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.