Winmill & CO. Inc. Invests $13.10 Million in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Winmill & CO. Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 46,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,098,000. LPL Financial accounts for about 2.9% of Winmill & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,333,189,000. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,410,454,000 after buying an additional 619,715 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,079,000 after buying an additional 289,227 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after acquiring an additional 702,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $361.35 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $400.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $326.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $315.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 2.39.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

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.