Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,736 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 3,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 37 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 LPLA opened at $360.24 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $315.00. The stock has a market cap of $28.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $400.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. The trade was a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

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.