Whittier Trust Co. Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 11.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,070 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $11,911,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,012,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 7.1% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 5,179 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 1.2% in the 4th 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. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Holocene Advisors LP now owns 298,873 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $99,432,000 after buying an additional 30,425 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA traded up $1.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $305.83. 81,624 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 992,678. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $24.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $294.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $321.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were given 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.