Bank of Nova Scotia Takes Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 4,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $91,012,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,204,000 after purchasing an additional 5,179 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,998,000 after purchasing an additional 6,630 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,616,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 56.6% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 158,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $56,713,000 after purchasing an additional 57,362 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $360.24 on Thursday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $400.16. The company has a market cap of $28.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 2.39. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $330.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $315.00.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 last year, the company earned $4.51 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Profile

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.