Primecap Management Co. CA Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Primecap Management Co. CA purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 16,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,507,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. HMI Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,407,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $79,845,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $1,424,000. Veratis Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $310,000. Finally, SurgoCap Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth $299,487,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial 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 sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778 over the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. UBS Group cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.5%

LPLA opened at $360.24 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.15 and a fifty-two week high of $400.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 2.39. The company has a fifty day moving average of $330.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.00.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.57%.

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.