Natural Investments LLC Invests $212,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Natural Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 651 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,320 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,633,000. Truist Financial Corp increased its stake in LPL Financial by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,740,000 after acquiring an additional 14,106 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $319.20 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $353.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.31. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $384.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $23.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. 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.