State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Reduces Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D trimmed its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,328 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $8,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanchez Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $267,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $379.99 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $381.60. The stock has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $344.99 and a 200 day moving average of $285.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

About LPL Financial

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.