Korea Investment CORP Makes New Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Korea Investment CORP bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 36,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,369,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in LPL Financial by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter worth $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $406.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 5,427 shares of company stock valued at $1,910,778 in the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $364.18 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $327.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $315.28. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.51 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.57%.

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.