Cibc World Market Inc. Purchases Shares of 9,907 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Cibc World Market Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,907 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,791,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at $1,333,189,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $450,493,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $371,616,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake 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 worth $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew 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.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock worth $1,910,778. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock opened at $360.24 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $28.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $330.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.00. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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