LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Position Decreased by Kennedy Capital Management LLC

Kennedy Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 20,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $295.32 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $329.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given 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 was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on LPLA shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.