Sanctuary Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lessened its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 19.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,661 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,414,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth approximately $121,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 8,569 shares of company stock worth $2,720,733 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of LPLA opened at $330.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.05, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $281.51 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $308.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $342.55.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $435.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $406.00 to $380.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $401.93.

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.