Bamco Inc. NY Has $62.59 Million Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Bamco Inc. NY decreased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 175,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,652 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $62,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $91,012,000. Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,975,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the 4th 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. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,583,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $304.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.25 and its 200 day moving average is $328.52. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on LPLA shares. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.