King Luther Capital Management Corp Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,234,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in LPL Financial by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,301,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at $305,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its position in LPL Financial by 116.9% during the third quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 2,978 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $693,000 after buying an additional 1,605 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $319.20 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $353.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.