Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 11,736 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 206,520 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,736 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $47,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 164.4% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in LPL Financial by 220.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $49,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total transaction of $354,834.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,419.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total transaction of $354,834.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,419.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total transaction of $2,563,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,131,229.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $262.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $262.88 and its 200-day moving average is $240.77. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $179.00 and a fifty-two week high of $274.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.77 and a quick ratio of 1.77.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 57.68%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.79%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on LPLA. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.36.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.