BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Sells 7,015 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S decreased its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 21.7% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,015 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $8,444,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. JMP Securities set a $475.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $433.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total value of $1,876,467.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,459,852.74. This represents a 35.16% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,581.40. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 5,888 shares of company stock worth $2,182,893 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 4.3%

LPLA opened at $372.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $368.65 and its 200-day moving average is $358.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a market cap of $29.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.82, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 35.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

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.