Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 800,171 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 32.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 800,171 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,078,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Camden National Bank increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the second quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PUREfi Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the topic of several research reports. Wolfe Research set a $486.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $406.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $421.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.07.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. The trade was a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,581.40. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,747,538 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of LPLA opened at $378.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.86, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $359.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 11.05%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.