Evolve Private Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 1,809 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,809 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $510,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $1,333,189,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $450,493,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 4,435.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 747,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,439,000 after buying an additional 730,613 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. The trade was a 14.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $364.18 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $327.96 and its 200 day moving average is $315.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $400.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.51 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.