LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 80.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,458 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,616,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $288.28 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $302.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $330.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. TD Cowen cut their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

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.