United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Invests $327,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of LPLA. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 11.9% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $928,000 after buying an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 321,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $74,863,000 after purchasing an additional 9,899 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 164.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,046 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,570,000 after purchasing an additional 6,865 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 16,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted 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. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction 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 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. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $339.15 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $352.42 and its 200 day moving average is $310.06. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two 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 company has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.