GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New $1.03 Million Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,658 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,012,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,204,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,998,000 after buying an additional 6,630 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $371,616,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 56.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 158,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $56,713,000 after buying an additional 57,362 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $368.20 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $320.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $315.63. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $400.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The business had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.51 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.57%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’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 transaction of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.