Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes $6.70 Million Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,695,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $91,012,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,204,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,998,000 after buying an additional 6,630 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $371,616,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 158,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after buying an additional 57,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on LPLA. Barclays increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial started coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $389.00 price target on the stock. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $405.79.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, 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 transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total transaction of $110,066.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,397.52. The trade was a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,735 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,845. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $357.63 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $400.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $335.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $314.87.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.57%.

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.