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

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 17.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,385 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $11,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at $402,312,000. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 224.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,385,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,351 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $915,745,000 after purchasing an additional 926,122 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 550.5% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 759,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,367,000 after purchasing an additional 642,503 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 8.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,986,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,994,798,000 after buying an additional 613,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $369.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.83 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $346.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $360.98.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.71. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.16 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 13th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 11.05%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,344.96. The trade was a 1.43% 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. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total value of $564,645.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,785,729.10. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,330 shares of company stock valued at $828,658. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Rothschild Redb cut LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $429.00.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.