LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Acquired by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 52.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 477,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 164,586 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.64% of LPL Financial worth $133,285,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 38.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 533.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 23.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,923,000 after buying an additional 21,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. JMP Securities increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $275.27.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.6 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $205.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $223.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $254.20. The company has a market cap of $15.38 billion, a PE ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The business’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.06%.

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.