LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA Shares Sold by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. lowered its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,849 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $4,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in LPL Financial by 74.9% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 765,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,861,000 after purchasing an additional 327,580 shares in the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $316,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,304,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $426,846,000 after purchasing an additional 105,665 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 354,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,808,000 after buying an additional 18,252 shares during the period. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth $1,728,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $377.82 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $341.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $360.00. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $262.83 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The firm’s revenue was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.16 earnings per share. 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.05%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total value of $507,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 17,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,959,260.20. This trade represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,675 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. UBS Group set a $455.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Citizens Jmp boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.00.

LPL Financial Company 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.