Trillium Asset Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Trillium Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 71,767 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,216,000.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $354.02 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $325.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $315.54. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $400.16. The company has a quick ratio of 2.39, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $27.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

LPL Financial Company 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.