7,604 Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Bought by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 7,604 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,142,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 580.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Barclays upped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $364.18 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $400.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $327.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released 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. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.