National Pension Service Increases Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

National Pension Service increased its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 119,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $39,091,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,770 shares of company stock valued at $12,663,312 over the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $371.74 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The company has a market cap of $27.72 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $351.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.33. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.