Prana Capital Management LP Acquires 4,410 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Prana Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 105.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,607 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,410 shares during the period. Prana Capital Management LP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 42.7% in 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. raised its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the first 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 during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% in the 1st 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 shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $293.82 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $342.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $348.41. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their target price on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,420. This represents a 28.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

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.