LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stake Reduced by Trillium Asset Management LLC

Trillium Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,934 shares during the quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $22,326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 27.9% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,182,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 49.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 14,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,323,000 after buying an additional 4,702 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 23.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 4,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,021,000 after buying an additional 821 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 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 lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $326.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $352.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.72. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $384.04. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.