Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 730,613 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 4,435.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 747,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 730,613 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $210,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 580.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $359.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.63, a PEG ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $308.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $315.52. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.51 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $408.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 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.