Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 48.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 54,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,957 shares during the period. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $15,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew 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 valued at $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter worth about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at about $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the business’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 approximately $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $370.69 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $400.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.19 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $333.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.51 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 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.