Fox Run Management L.L.C. Acquires New Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 3,394 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,212,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after acquiring an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,616,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 23.2% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after acquiring an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $288.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.74, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The business’s 50 day moving average is $302.22 and its two-hundred day 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.15 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. One research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

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.