Boston Partners Acquires 805,637 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Boston Partners lifted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 26.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 805,637 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial makes up approximately 1.6% of Boston Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Boston Partners owned about 5.22% of LPL Financial worth $1,278,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LPLA. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $78,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $328.29 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $352.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.00.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.