Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Increases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP lifted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 625,562 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,100 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial comprises 0.9% of Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $223,432,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% in the 4th 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 period. Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $291.84 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $303.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $332.26.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction 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 trade represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,538,826. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.