Vestcor Inc Sells 2,485 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Vestcor Inc lowered its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 61.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,576 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,485 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 50.6% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,633,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 217,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,586,000 after purchasing an additional 88,196 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in LPL Financial by 882.4% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 85,914 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $23,996,000 after purchasing an additional 77,169 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $330.23 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $334.38. The company has a market cap of $24.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $258.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. On average, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.