Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 500 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB cut its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $6,263,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 50.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,320 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 15.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,740,000 after acquiring an additional 14,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.6% in the fourth 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 owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $371.93 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $384.04. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.33. The firm has a market cap of $27.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 0.94 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

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.