Arizona State Retirement System Sells 1,576 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,963 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,576 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after buying an additional 800,171 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 20.5% during the third quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 2,255,714 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $750,453,000 after buying an additional 383,466 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,569 shares of company stock worth $2,720,733. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. UBS Group upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $406.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $435.00 to $369.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $401.93.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.2%

LPLA stock opened at $320.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $308.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $342.36. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $281.51 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

LPL Financial 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.