Peak Financial Advisors LLC Has $1.78 Million Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Peak Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 159.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,996 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,072 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $300.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $333.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $345.91. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.