LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA is Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 498,633 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 100,149 shares during the period. LPL Financial comprises 3.6% of Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC owned about 0.62% of LPL Financial worth $165,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Camden National Bank lifted its position in LPL Financial by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $363,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% in 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 in the last quarter. PUREfi Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 29.4% in the second quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 154 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.1%

LPL Financial stock opened at $313.56 on Monday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $351.42 and a 200 day moving average of $351.69. 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 stock has a market cap of $25.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.