APG Asset Management N.V. Grows Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

APG Asset Management N.V. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 51.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 767,333 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 259,740 shares during the quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. owned 0.96% of LPL Financial worth $255,284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,581,000 after buying an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,379,598,000 after acquiring an additional 165,201 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 800,171 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 77.3% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,249 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,970,021 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,418,000 after purchasing an additional 373,077 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,581.40. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 9,578 shares of company stock valued at $3,364,800. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $300.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $357.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $353.22. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen cut their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.