Amalgamated Bank Acquires 563 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,593 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 563 shares during the quarter. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ASB Consultores LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 16.8% during the third quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its position in LPL Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 117,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,386,000 after buying an additional 4,524 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in LPL Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 7,417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,725,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 61.2% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,386,000 after purchasing an additional 13,814 shares during the period. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 68.2% in the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 217,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,586,000 after purchasing an additional 88,196 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $314.68 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $248.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $321.92.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.74 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

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.