Legal & General Group Plc Has $131.55 Million Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 368,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,932 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $131,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,453,000 after purchasing an additional 383,466 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. The trade was a 28.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 4,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,538,826 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.1%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $265.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $304.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $335.62. The company has a market capitalization of $21.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.74, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays raised their price target on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.