Insider Selling: LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells 305 Shares of Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $330.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $332.91. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.15.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,930,000 after acquiring an additional 650,675 shares during the period. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,472,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,329,000 after purchasing an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 82.0% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares during the period. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 643,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,708,000 after buying an additional 220,622 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LPLA. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $296.42.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.