LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Hsbc Holdings PLC decreased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 25.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,796 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,615 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.05% of LPL Financial worth $13,182,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in 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 worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,410,454,000 after acquiring an additional 619,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. 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 report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $408.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.92.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $327.38 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $295.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $317.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

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.