Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $800,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Camden National Bank increased its stake in LPL Financial by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 29 shares during the period. PUREfi Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 1.6% during the third quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $293.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $337.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $346.95. The stock has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.59. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.83 and a 12-month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price target on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company 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.