Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $757,000 Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. Net Worth Advisory Group acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at about $240,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 101.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 977 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 21.2% in the third quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 3,030 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $705,000 after buying an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.7% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 22,784 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,300,000 after buying an additional 1,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.2% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 12,332 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,869,000 after buying an additional 495 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $379.99 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $381.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company has a market capitalization of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average of $344.99 and a 200-day moving average of $285.83.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group increased their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Profile

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.