LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Stake Lessened by Boston Partners

Boston Partners lowered its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,550,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 119,008 shares during the period. LPL Financial comprises about 1.3% of Boston Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Boston Partners’ holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,268,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th 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. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 3.6%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $295.66 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $301.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $329.73. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial 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.