Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 16,173 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 847,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,173 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.06% of LPL Financial worth $282,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after acquiring an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after purchasing an additional 165,201 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,078,698,000 after purchasing an additional 800,171 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 77.3% during the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,013,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 23.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,970,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $655,418,000 after purchasing an additional 373,077 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $313.56 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $351.71.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Company 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.