Independent Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 1,794 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,794 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $540,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 42.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $327.38 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $295.39 and a 200-day moving average of $317.33. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a PE ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on LPLA shares. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.92.

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.