National Pension Service Grows Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

National Pension Service increased its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 114,801 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.14% of LPL Financial worth $43,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $113,000 after buying an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc lifted its position in LPL Financial by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Compass Financial Services Inc now owns 229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares during the period. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.0% during the second quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 1.4% during the second quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $993,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 1.8% in the second quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $411.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $438.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $429.00.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock opened at $370.59 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $342.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.83 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.66 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.63.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The company’s revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 11.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total transaction of $507,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,959,260.20. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,830 shares of company stock worth $1,336,675 in the last 90 days. Company 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.