Blair William & Co. IL Sells 1,766 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 21,356 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,766 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $6,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $136,440,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in LPL Financial by 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,197,000 after buying an additional 4,869 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $327,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $336.89 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.82. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % 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. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company 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.