Foresight Global Investors Inc. Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Foresight Global Investors Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $404,000. LPL Financial makes up about 0.2% of Foresight Global Investors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter worth $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $454.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $359.23 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company’s 50-day moving average is $323.90 and its 200 day moving average is $315.62. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.