B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Increases Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG increased its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 940.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,884 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,820 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $10,607,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Camden National Bank boosted its position in LPL Financial by 3.1% in the second quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 804 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. PUREfi Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC now owns 732 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 29.4% in the 2nd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of LPLA opened at $313.56 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $351.42 and a 200 day moving average of $351.69. The firm has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 10.90%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial 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 transaction of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

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.