LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Bought by Quantitative Investment Management LLC

Quantitative Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 126.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,977 shares during the quarter. Quantitative Investment Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,502,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,182,595,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $450,493,000. SurgoCap Partners LP purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $299,487,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $371,616,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $406.69.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were 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 $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total transaction of $110,066.88. Following the sale, the director directly owned 6,107 shares in the company, valued at $2,182,397.52. This represents a 4.80% 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. Insiders sold 5,735 shares of company stock worth $2,020,845 in the last three months. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.1%

LPLA opened at $370.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $334.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $314.74. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $400.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $4.51 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.57%.

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.