Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. $LPLA

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 190,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,616 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.24% of LPL Financial worth $63,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 912.5% in 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 period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 72.0% during the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,420. The trade was a 28.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $289.03 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.83 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $345.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $349.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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