Eminence Capital LP Sells 145,779 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Eminence Capital LP decreased its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 24.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 441,845 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 145,779 shares during the period. LPL Financial comprises about 2.5% of Eminence Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Eminence Capital LP’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $157,814,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,612,184 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th 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 period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $371,616,000. Finally, Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen cut 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.4%

LPL Financial stock opened at $304.50 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $302.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $328.52. 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 has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.71%.

LPL Financial Company 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.