Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Increases Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 71.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,323 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in LPL Financial by 23.2% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after buying an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 20.5% in the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 1.4%

LPLA stock opened at $287.82 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $305.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $339.02. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.93 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $23.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.57.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock valued at $2,720,733 in the last ninety days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

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.