Ballentine Partners LLC Takes $389,000 Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 1,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 123.1% during the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA grew its position in LPL Financial by 234.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in LPL Financial by 63.9% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,151,836. This represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,580 shares of company stock valued at $1,671,235. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rothschild Redb downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $490.00 target price (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $391.54.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $340.52 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.29, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.66. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $222.74 and a one year high of $403.58. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $359.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $353.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.21%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.