Diversified Trust Co Acquires Shares of 9,098 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,098 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,737,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on LPLA. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective 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 began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $293.95 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $327.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

About LPL Financial

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.