Vise Technologies Inc. Buys 2,479 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Vise Technologies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 134.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,479 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,542,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Graney & King LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 49.5% during the 2nd quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,667 shares of company stock worth $855,871. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $288.49 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $302.79 and its 200 day moving average is $331.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The company has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.15 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.71%.

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.