Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Takes Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,756 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $573,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 15.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 23.0% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 821 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 45.6% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 4,387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 2,076.9% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 566 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the third quarter worth about $735,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $334.45 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $384.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $352.00 and a 200-day moving average of $306.10. The firm has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on LPLA. UBS Group boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Company 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.