Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Sells 4,633 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 10.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,633 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $11,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its position in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $371,616,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $295.18 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. 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 company has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $295.41 and its 200 day moving average is $322.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 10.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

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.