Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 92.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 28,970 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 1,051 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 163.1% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 66,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,833,000 after purchasing an additional 41,451 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 16,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in LPL Financial by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 3,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,000 after buying an additional 552 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley Wealth Managers Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 2,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 334 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $379.29 on Thursday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $390.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $344.35.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The financial services provider reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.54 by $0.61. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 46.34% and a net margin of 8.23%. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities upped their target price on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Wall Street Zen lowered LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $400.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Redburn Atlantic raised LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Citigroup lowered LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $400.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $387.69.

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.