World Equity Group Inc. Invests $561,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

World Equity Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,720 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $561,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 432 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $229,000. WealthCare Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $222,000. Wealth Alliance raised its stake in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after buying an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 15.0% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 2,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after buying an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $371.93 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $348.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $291.00. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week 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 stock 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley increased 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. Finally, UBS Group raised 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. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

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.