Royal Bank of Canada Trims Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Royal Bank of Canada cut its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 12.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 157,829 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 22,891 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $47,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after acquiring an additional 996,806 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.62.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about LPL Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 earnings and revenue exceeded expectations. Adjusted EPS rose 29% year over year to $5.84, ahead of the $5.39 consensus, while revenue climbed 35.2% to $5.19 billion versus the $5.04 billion estimate. Net income reached $379 million, or $4.74 per diluted share. LPL Financial Q2 earnings and revenues beat estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Asset growth and recruiting momentum remained strong. Total client assets rose 34% year over year to $2.6 trillion, advisory assets increased 46% to $1.5 trillion, and organic net new assets totaled $23 billion. Recruited assets grew 35% to $25 billion, while management described the recruiting pipeline as a record and reported 97% asset retention. Why LPL Financial stock is up today
• Positive Sentiment: Capital returns and analyst support improved. LPL resumed repurchases, buying back $309 million of stock in Q2 and planning approximately $300 million in Q3; its board also increased authorization by $2.5 billion. JPMorgan raised its target to $428 and KBW increased its target to $390, with both firms maintaining bullish ratings.
• Positive Sentiment: Commonwealth integration expectations improved. The Q4 2026 onboarding remains on track, expected asset retention is approximately 90%, and estimated run-rate EBITDA contribution increased from $410 million to $435 million. LPL shares and Commonwealth update
• Neutral Sentiment: LPL declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share, payable August 28 to shareholders of record August 14.
• Negative Sentiment: Higher operating expenses remain a partial offset: core G&A increased 22% year over year to $519 million. In addition, reported data showed 18 insider sales and no insider purchases during the past six months, a potential sentiment headwind.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $353.70 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $28.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $315.93.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.80% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.51 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.58 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

LPL Financial Company 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.