Bamco Inc. NY Reduces Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 6.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 207,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,582 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $69,165,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 72.0% during 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 last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the company’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 value of $506,710.50. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.2%

LPLA stock opened at $289.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 0.64 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $345.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $349.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.71.

LPL Financial 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.