Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Invests $800,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Eastern Bank increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $293.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market cap of $23.48 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average of $337.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $346.95. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.