Bank of Montreal Can Sells 35,002 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 46.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 40,784 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 35,002 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can owned 0.05% of LPL Financial worth $9,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $723,329,000 after purchasing an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.0% in the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $333,684,000 after purchasing an additional 88,635 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 11.3% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 884,630 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $247,077,000 after purchasing an additional 90,020 shares during the period. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.5% in the second quarter. Darlington Partners Capital Management LP now owns 783,290 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $218,773,000 after purchasing an additional 68,276 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 782,006 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $218,405,000 after purchasing an additional 59,819 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $324.97. The stock had a trading volume of 147,835 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,709. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $274.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $255.03. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $330.72.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 9.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of LPL Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $290.83.

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.