Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 12,277 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 29.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,729 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,277 shares during the quarter. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 39.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 5,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares during the last quarter. RiverGlades Family Offices LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 9.1% in the third quarter. RiverGlades Family Offices LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.9% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 691,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $230,122,000 after purchasing an additional 38,463 shares during the last quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.7% in the third quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,264 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 13.2% during the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 737 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total value of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,939,344.96. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,182,893. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $318.59 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $25.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $359.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $354.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.83 and a 1 year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $421.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

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.