Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 27,231 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 452,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 27,231 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.60% of LPL Financial worth $147,806,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at about $43,000. Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $78,000. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 32.3% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 385 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.17.

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LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $17.41 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $341.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,310,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,031. 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 has a market cap of $25.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $353.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.74. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. LPL Financial's payout ratio is 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,770 shares of company stock worth $12,663,312 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

About LPL Financial

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.