Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Reduces Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lowered its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,955 shares during the quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 912.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank grew its position in LPL Financial by 72.0% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.7%

LPLA stock opened at $319.22 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $25.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.58. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $362.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $355.22. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 35.99% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 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 Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on LPLA. Citizens Jmp set a $475.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.71.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total value of $1,876,467.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,459,852.74. This represents a 35.16% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,182,893. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial 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.