LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Acquired by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 9.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,900 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank increased its position in LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 116.2% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,852.74. This trade represents a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,498 shares of company stock valued at $3,336,602. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on LPLA. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.71.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $306.00 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.83 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $356.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $352.85. The company has a market capitalization of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 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.