HM Payson & Co. Sells 689 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,812 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 689 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at about $295,982,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 82.0% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,635,000 after buying an additional 223,931 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $333.90 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $353.69 and a 200-day moving average of $299.92. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.