Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Has $32.98 Million Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 99,118 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,042 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.12% of LPL Financial worth $32,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after buying an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.71.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $288.16 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $340.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $347.99. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.17, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.90%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,694,420. This represents a 28.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.