Janus Henderson Group PLC Increases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 522,032 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 4.07% of LPL Financial worth $996,032,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 143.9% in the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,681,000 after purchasing an additional 10,266 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in LPL Financial by 109.0% in the 4th quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 185,935 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,710,000 after buying an additional 96,988 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,887 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Trust Co now owns 1,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $607,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FJ Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $2,921,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $405.00 to $342.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $371.50.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $360.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.60 billion, a PE ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.65. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $384.04. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $320.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $329.38.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.61. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.63 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.83 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.