Picton Mahoney Asset Management Sells 79,957 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Picton Mahoney Asset Management trimmed its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 97.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 79,957 shares during the period. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after buying an additional 165,201 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after buying an additional 800,171 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 77.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after buying an additional 1,178,249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 23.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,970,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,418,000 after buying an additional 373,077 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $313.56 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $351.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $351.72. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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