Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Decreases Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lessened its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 279,413 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,193 shares during the quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $99,798,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,848 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,407,000 after purchasing an additional 791 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Cercano Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $204,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,135,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $288.28 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $302.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $330.76. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.15 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $398.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% 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.