Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 54,149 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 11.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 408,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54,149 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.51% of LPL Financial worth $122,829,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 178.0% in the 1st quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd now owns 1,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.7% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 120,540 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,262,000 after buying an additional 6,480 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 42.6% during the 1st quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 7,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,361,000 after buying an additional 2,346 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gibbs Wealth Management raised its stake in LPL Financial by 16.7% during the first quarter. Gibbs Wealth Management now owns 1,830 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $397.92.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $328.55 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $296.47 and its 200 day moving average is $317.14. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.