New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 2,500 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,141 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $13,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 11,516.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 92,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $21,592,000 after purchasing an additional 92,020 shares in the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 1.9% in the third quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 15,876 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,693,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 39.4% during the third quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays raised their price target on LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.0 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $371.93 on Monday. 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 stock has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $348.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.00.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS 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%. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

LPL Financial 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.