EP Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 358 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 44.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,171 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $276,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1.1% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 4,107 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.1% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $330.23 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $334.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $258.97. The company has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $305.17.

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.