Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 3,084 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,084 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $17,718,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cercano Management LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $204,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 25,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,135,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its stake in LPL Financial by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 445,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $159,041,000 after acquiring an additional 81,880 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in LPL Financial by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 35,304 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,610,000 after acquiring an additional 2,884 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $275.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.00 billion, a PE ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $303.97 and its 200 day moving average is $334.18.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial 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 sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial 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 approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,879 shares of company stock worth $1,538,826. 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.