LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Stock: Markel Group Inc. Increases Position

Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 566,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,181 shares during the period. LPL Financial makes up approximately 1.3% of Markel Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Markel Group Inc. owned about 0.72% of LPL Financial worth $173,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth $1,182,595,000. SurgoCap Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth $299,487,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth $290,481,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at $229,756,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total value of $110,066.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,397.52. The trade was a 4.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,867 shares of company stock worth $1,726,944. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $297.66 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $400.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 2.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The stock has a market cap of $23.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.55. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $327.67 and a 200-day moving average of $322.32.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $5.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.69 by $0.28. LPL Financial had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 32.05%. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.20 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 6.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of 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. cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $445.00 to $413.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $557.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $362.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $400.60.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc is a financial services company that supports independent financial advisors and institutions across the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, LPL Financial LLC, the company provides brokerage, investment advisory, and custodial services, enabling advisors to serve individual investors, families, retirement plans, and other clients.

LPL’s platform includes access to brokerage and advisory products, securities clearing and custody, trading and operations support, technology, compliance services, investment research, and practice-management resources.