Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 87,090 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Bank of New York Mellon Corp trimmed its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 365,384 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 87,090 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $130,504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 4,879 shares of company stock worth $1,538,826 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $288.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $302.79 and its 200 day moving average is $331.95. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

LPL Financial Company 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.