Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. Makes New $5.53 Million Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,530,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 49.5% in the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $275.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $22.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $303.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $334.18.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 4,879 shares of company stock worth $1,538,826 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.