Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Grows Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 106.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,866,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 360.7% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 74.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $273.98 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $20.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $291.67. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.08% and a net margin of 8.73%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.77 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.02%.

LPL Financial 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.