Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Lowers Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA – Get Rating) by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 288,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 59,651 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.36% of LPL Financial worth $62,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 36.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 4,383 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 29.1% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 489 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,392 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $802,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 176.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 6,549 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after purchasing an additional 4,181 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at about $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 38,444 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.20, for a total transaction of $9,464,912.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,132,440.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 38,444 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.20, for a total transaction of $9,464,912.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,132,440.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 7,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.17, for a total transaction of $1,750,514.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 12,644 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,573.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,693 shares of company stock valued at $22,341,455. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on LPLA. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $283.50 to $266.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $258.00 to $277.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $239.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 6th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $259.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $260.88.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $202.70 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.95. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $151.53 and a 12-month high of $271.56. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $236.60 and a 200-day moving average price of $232.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

LPL Financial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 13th. This is a positive change from LPL Financial’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.60%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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LPL Financial Holdings, Inc serves independent financial advisors and financial institutions, providing them with the technology, research, clearing and compliance services, and practice management programs they need to create and grow their practices. It provides objective financial guidance to millions of American families seeking wealth management, retirement planning, financial planning and asset management solutions.