LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 78.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,664 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,209 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $295,982,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after acquiring an additional 805,637 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in LPL Financial by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after acquiring an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $84,145,000. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in LPL Financial by 166.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 145,443 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $48,494,000 after purchasing an additional 90,775 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $435.00 to $420.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $414.00 to $365.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $369.83.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $286.89 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $344.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $317.19. The stock has a market cap of $21.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial 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.