Genus Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Genus Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 82.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,972 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,490 shares during the period. Genus Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $26,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the third quarter worth $27,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 49.5% during the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $285.78 on Tuesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.93 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The company has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $305.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $337.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid 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 is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. This trade represents a 28.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.