SEB Asset Management AB Makes New $5.03 Million Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

SEB Asset Management AB bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 16,710 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $5,027,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $371,616,000. Capital World Investors increased 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 purchasing an additional 996,806 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $397.92.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $327.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $26.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 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. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $295.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $317.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its 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 firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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 $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.