TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. Cuts Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. trimmed its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 88.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,638 shares during the quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 12.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $121,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total value of $110,066.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,397.52. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 5,735 shares of company stock worth $2,020,845 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $350.22 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $343.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $315.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $400.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. The firm 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%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.51 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.06 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $372.00 to $377.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted 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. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $405.79.

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.