Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Acquires 117 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,583 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 218,199.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 95,191,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $20,577,580,000 after purchasing an additional 95,148,049 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $217,799,000. Capital Research Global Investors bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter worth $117,183,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in LPL Financial by 1,732.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 568,292 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $135,055,000 after acquiring an additional 537,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 27.3% in the first quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,772,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $358,833,000 after acquiring an additional 380,373 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total value of $346,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,730,292.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total value of $354,834.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,419.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total value of $346,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,730,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,151 shares of company stock worth $15,911,088 over the last quarter. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $263.00 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $179.00 and a 12 month high of $274.35. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $261.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $240.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $19.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 57.68% and a net margin of 10.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.36.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.