LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Stake Lowered by Janney Montgomery Scott LLC

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC cut its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 68.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,661 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 42,061 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Pinpoint Asset Management Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $295.18 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $294.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $321.85. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $260.15 and a twelve month high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released 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. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,887 shares of company stock worth $613,144 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

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.