Oak Thistle LLC Buys New Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 9,306 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,096,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,994,798,000 after acquiring an additional 613,909 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in LPL Financial by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after purchasing an additional 165,201 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 77.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,249 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.8% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,745,000 after buying an additional 926,122 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total value of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 8,138 shares of company stock worth $2,983,353. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rothschild Redb downgraded LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $438.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their target price on LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $427.86.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of LPLA opened at $367.97 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.83 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $355.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.47.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The firm’s revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 11.05%.

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.