Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Increases Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter worth $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 72.0% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total transaction of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,423,581.40. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,344.96. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,888 shares of company stock worth $2,182,893. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $421.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $431.80.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $334.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.58. The business has a 50 day moving average of $368.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $357.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.83 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 35.99% and a net margin of 5.08%.The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

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.