Bamco Inc. NY Sells 32,652 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 175,245 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 32,652 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY owned 0.22% of LPL Financial worth $62,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Boothbay Fund Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 532.2% during the fourth quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC now owns 10,969 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,918,000 after buying an additional 9,234 shares during the last quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 363,462 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,818,000 after buying an additional 52,530 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,351,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $218,000. Finally, GAM Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $335,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $304.50 on Thursday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $403.58. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $302.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.52.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,188.03. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LPLA. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $398.86.

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.