ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Invests $2.82 Million in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd acquired a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 7,900 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,822,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,581,000 after buying an additional 317,002 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after buying an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on LPLA. Barclays upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $285.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $301.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $329.97. The company has a market cap of $22.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Profile

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.