denkapparat Operations GmbH Acquires Shares of 1,006 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,006 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in LPL Financial by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 47,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,663,000 after purchasing an additional 7,042 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $305,747,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $136,440,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $18,197,000 after buying an additional 4,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in LPL Financial by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.8 %

LPLA opened at $333.19 on Friday. 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 Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $352.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $310.23.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.