Saudi Central Bank Grows Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Saudi Central Bank grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 90.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,659 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,182,595,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its position 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,103,079,000 after acquiring an additional 289,227 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its position in LPL Financial by 37.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $454.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $405.79.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total transaction of $110,066.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,182,397.52. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,735 shares of company stock valued at $2,020,845. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $350.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $343.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $315.79. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $27.58 billion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released 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 company had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.51 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.06 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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