Federated Hermes Inc. Decreases Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 30.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,678 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,293 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,554,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.2% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities set a $475.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $433.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. This trade represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total value of $1,876,467.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 9,326 shares in the company, valued at $3,459,852.74. This trade represents a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,888 shares of company stock worth $2,182,893. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.8%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $386.94 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.58. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $367.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $358.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 35.99% and a net margin of 5.08%.LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

LPL Financial 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.