LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Acquired by Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1,408.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,964 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,321 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned about 0.07% of LPL Financial worth $20,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,372,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,411,956,000 after purchasing an additional 154,200 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 0.8% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,681,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,264,000 after purchasing an additional 20,881 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 5.8% during the second quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,730,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $631,664,000 after purchasing an additional 95,423 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 224.1% during the first quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,351 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 35.9% during the first quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,516,060 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $495,964,000 after purchasing an additional 400,352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $440.00 to $455.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $405.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $438.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $460.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.38.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $338.18 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $252.55 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $341.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 3.22, a quick ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total value of $235,815.00. Following the sale, the director owned 16,870 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,304,265.40. The trade was a 4.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total value of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,830 shares of company stock worth $1,333,105 in the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial 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.