Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Purchases Shares of 857 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 50.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 5,320 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,633,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $313.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $384.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The business’s fifty day moving average is $353.37 and its 200-day moving average is $301.68.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.