Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $282.10 Million Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 847,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,173 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $282,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 77.3% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,013,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,249 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $402,312,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,745,000 after purchasing an additional 926,122 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,994,798,000 after purchasing an additional 613,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 444.8% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 551,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $206,825,000 after purchasing an additional 450,326 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock opened at $313.56 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $351.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $351.71. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.83 and a 12 month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.25 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $500.00 target price on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.71.

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.