Aigen Investment Management LP Purchases Shares of 4,138 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Aigen Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 4,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $963,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after buying an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after buying an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,684,000 after acquiring an additional 88,635 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after purchasing an additional 153,072 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in LPL Financial by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 884,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,077,000 after buying an additional 90,020 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $317.24 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $321.92.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on LPLA. Barclays increased their price target on LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.