Artemis Investment Management LLP Purchases 12,896 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,736 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,896 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $27,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 34.0% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the period. Shelton Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,085,000. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 7,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,437,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new position in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,132 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $288.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $378.00 to $379.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $351.50.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $348.93 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $350.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $327.62 and a 200 day moving average of $267.83.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

LPL Financial Profile

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.