Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd Acquires New Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Osmosis Investment Management UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 1,915 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $539,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% during the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Graney & King LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the sale, the director owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $361.88 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $329.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.09. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $400.16. The company has a market capitalization of $28.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

About LPL Financial

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.