Whittier Trust Co. Grows Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $484,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Sanchez Wealth Management Group raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $299,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $334.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $352.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.10. The stock has a market cap of $24.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

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%. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.