Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes $4.03 Million Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 14,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,025,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 580.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.3%

LPLA opened at $361.22 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $400.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $331.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.83.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.