Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC Raises Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 77.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 198,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87,011 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial comprises 0.8% of Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $66,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $306.00 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $356.31 and its 200 day moving average is $352.85. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.59. 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 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 9,498 shares of company stock worth $3,336,602 in the last 90 days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.