Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 2,717 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 19.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,492 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,717 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, 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 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 3.8%

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $289.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $326.13 and a 200-day moving average of $344.30. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $23.20 billion, a PE ratio of 26.27, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.56. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.