Citigroup Inc. Has $16.85 Million Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,511 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 9,764 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.10% of LPL Financial worth $16,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 218,199.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 95,191,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,577,580,000 after acquiring an additional 95,148,049 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 92.9% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,283,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $867,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,063,212 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,799,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter worth approximately $117,183,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 27.3% in the first quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,772,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,833,000 after acquiring an additional 380,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.84% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on LPLA. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $277.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $282.00 to $284.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $245.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $232.00 to $233.00 in a report on Sunday, July 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $252.90.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $225.11 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 1.87 and a quick ratio of 1.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $179.00 and a fifty-two week high of $257.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $221.38. The company has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.91.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.15. LPL Financial had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 60.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.13 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.45 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 9th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total value of $88,260.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,475,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 353 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total value of $88,260.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 145,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,475,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard Steinmeier sold 10,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.68, for a total transaction of $2,499,604.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,914 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,689.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,583 shares of company stock worth $3,017,039. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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, retirement and education savings plans, fixed income, and insurance, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and auction rate notes.