Natixis Advisors LLC Trims Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 29.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,942 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,675 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of LPL Financial worth $18,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Camden National Bank raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% during the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $302.96 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $350.63. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. The trade was a 28.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 over the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.