180 Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Bought by Atala Financial Inc

Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Impact Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $941,000. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 15,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,040,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 2,838 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $84,145,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $406,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last ninety days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $321.99 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $352.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors 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 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio 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.