LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) CFO Sells $1,652,001.16 in Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $0.53 on Thursday, reaching $361.67. The stock had a trading volume of 386,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 702,018. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $351.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. 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 0.33%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $295,982,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 26.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after purchasing an additional 805,637 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $996,032,000 after buying an additional 522,032 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

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.