Shepherd Financial Partners LLC Buys New Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Shepherd Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,755 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,333,189,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $407,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,616,000. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after purchasing an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $359.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $28.29 billion, a PE ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day moving average of $323.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.62. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $400.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a current ratio of 2.39.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. The business had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.51 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $406.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.