Aberdeen Group plc Sells 9,470 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Aberdeen Group plc trimmed its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 9.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,694 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,470 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $30,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 187,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,537,000 after buying an additional 36,950 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.9% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $511,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $269,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in LPL Financial by 11.8% in the third quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 21,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,229,000 after acquiring an additional 2,295 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $865,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total transaction of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,423,581.40. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,182,893. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $334.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $367.40 and a 200 day moving average of $356.60. The company has a market capitalization of $26.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.58. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.83 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 35.99% and a net margin of 5.08%.The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $475.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $431.80.

LPL Financial 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.