Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 26,509 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1,103.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,912 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,509 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $10,326,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,742,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,214 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 187,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,537,000 after buying an additional 36,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth $1,975,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.71.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $296.90 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $330.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $345.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.