Legal & General Group Plc Acquires Shares of 283,459 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 283,459 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $79,845,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 580.0% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $361.22 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $331.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $314.83. 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 cap of $28.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

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 transaction of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.