Retirement Planning Group LLC Takes $605,000 Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $605,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Maseco LLP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research set a $486.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $453.00 to $444.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $406.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.07.

Key LPL Financial News

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Oak Bridge Financial (?$230M in advisory, brokerage and retirement assets) joined LPL’s broker?dealer and RIA platform, bringing experienced advisors and reinforcing LPL’s advisor?recruitment momentum. This increases fee?bearing assets and validates LPL’s platform/technology pitch to breakaway teams. LPL Financial Welcomes Oak Bridge Financial, LLC
• Positive Sentiment: Senior hires (Suzanne Elovic as EVP, head of supervision; Mike Murphy as EVP, head of service) strengthen LPL’s compliance and client service capabilities — important for advisor retention and scaling custody/advisory flows. Wealth Management Leaders Join LPL
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan trimmed its price target from $440 to $433 but kept an Overweight rating — a modest revision that preserves a favorable analyst view and suggests expectations remain constructive. Benzinga: JPMorgan target cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Media pieces assessing LPL’s evolving investment story and its multi?year share run offer varied takes for investors (strategy/oversight hires and valuation debates); useful context but unlikely to move fundamentals alone. How New Strategy and Oversight Hires At LPL Financial Has Changed Its Investment Story Is It Too Late To Consider LPL Financial?
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen lowered its price target from $410 to $399 and moved to a “hold,” which is a relative negative (less bullish stance) and could cap near?term analyst?driven upside. Benzinga: TD Cowen lowers target
• Negative Sentiment: Quiver/other data shows heavy insider selling activity (multiple executives selling in recent months), a signal some investors view as negative for near?term sentiment even if it doesn’t change fundamentals. Quiver: Oak Bridge & insider activity

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $371.82 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $29.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $365.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $358.98. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $262.83 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total value of $1,876,467.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. This trade represents a 35.16% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 7,388 shares of company stock worth $2,747,538. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.