Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 50.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,841 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,320 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,648,000. Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $110,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares during the period. 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 valued at $50,586,000 after purchasing an additional 88,196 shares during the last quarter. 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 period. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 14.0% during the third quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 28,548 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,580,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

LPLA stock opened at $327.35 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $330.72. 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 company has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50-day moving average price is $265.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $253.40.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.74 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.