LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Position Raised by Bamco Inc. NY

Bamco Inc. NY raised its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 7.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,184 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $32,242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $918,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1,640.7% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $320,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,619,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA traded down $17.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $221.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,638,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,440,948. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $268.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.05. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $200.18 and a 12 month high of $289.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 54.38% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total transaction of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at $39,546,624.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JMP Securities raised their target price on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.55.

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.