LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio reduced its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 26.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,503 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% during the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 1,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $545,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 580.0% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 4,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 19,251 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,791,000 after purchasing an additional 1,197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 38.5% during the first quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 348,101 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,719,000 after buying an additional 96,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of LPLA traded up $3.36 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $308.11. The company had a trading volume of 39,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,353. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $24.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $294.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $321.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

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.