Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 8,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,682,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $397.92.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $331.72 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $297.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $316.45. The firm has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current year.

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.