LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stake Lifted by DnB Asset Management AS

DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,944 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $295,982,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after purchasing an additional 805,637 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $136,440,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $336.89 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $384.04. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $351.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.55%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.