First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,918 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.18% of LPL Financial worth $47,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.2% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eastern Bank grew its position in LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $302.96 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $348.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $350.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.59. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.83 and a 1 year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

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.