Mangrove Partners IM LLC Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Mangrove Partners IM LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,734 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $977,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 worth $2,762,581,000 after acquiring an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after acquiring an additional 619,715 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the fourth 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. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% during the third 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.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $303.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.08, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $328.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.