LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Stake Lifted by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 42.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,346 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased 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 acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 580.0% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of 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. The transaction 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. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.6%

LPL Financial stock opened at $328.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $296.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $317.14. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $397.92.

LPL Financial 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.