Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 58.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 151,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,015 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned about 0.20% of LPL Financial worth $35,355,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. DRW Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.5% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 20,080 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,671,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 25.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 4,702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 952 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 5,320 shares during the period. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its stake in LPL Financial by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 710,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,369,000 after buying an additional 126,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,822,000 after buying an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $326.85 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $263.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $252.97. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $327.55. The stock has a market cap of $24.47 billion, a PE ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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 (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Company 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.