Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $757,000 Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 16.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,319 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 334 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. FMR LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,930,000 after acquiring an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,472,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 52.2% during the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 643,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,708,000 after purchasing an additional 220,622 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $379.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $344.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $285.83. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $381.60. The firm has a market cap of $28.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87.

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 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued 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 dividend payout ratio is 8.55%.

About LPL Financial

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.