Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 908.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,955,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,581,000 after acquiring an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after purchasing an additional 165,201 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in LPL Financial by 32.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after purchasing an additional 800,171 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox raised its position in LPL Financial by 77.3% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,249 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 23.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,970,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,418,000 after purchasing an additional 373,077 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.4%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $308.30 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.83 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $349.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $350.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.69 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The company’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on LPLA. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given 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 $428.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial 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.