LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Bought by Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 36.9% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 489 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 176.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,216,000 after buying an additional 4,181 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total value of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,131,229.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total transaction of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,131,229.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total transaction of $9,277,457.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,798,037.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $263.00 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $179.00 and a 52 week high of $274.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $261.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.18.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 57.68%. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.79%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on LPLA shares. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $268.36.

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.