2Xideas AG Raises Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

2Xideas AG boosted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 63.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,071 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 17,563 shares during the period. LPL Financial accounts for 2.0% of 2Xideas AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. 2Xideas AG owned about 0.06% of LPL Financial worth $14,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Compass Financial Services Inc acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $78,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $369.83.

LPL Financial Stock Up 2.4 %

LPLA traded up $7.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $308.89. The stock had a trading volume of 383,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,706. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The company has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock's 50 day moving average is $341.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $318.44.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

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.