Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 12,439 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 43.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,473 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,439 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,956,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% in 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 purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock opened at $269.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $260.15 and a 12-month high of $403.58. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $324.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related 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 transaction of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,887 shares of company stock worth $613,144. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.