BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Trims Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S cut its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 80.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,922 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 20,458 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,414,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in LPL Financial by 12.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after buying an additional 473 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $288.28 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $403.58. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $330.76.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid 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 was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 6th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.