LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Purchased by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 37.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,500 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 63,100 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned about 0.31% of LPL Financial worth $75,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares in the last quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in LPL Financial by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 1,076 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $441,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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LPL Financial Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of LPLA traded up $9.89 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $311.42. The stock had a trading volume of 789,293 shares, compared to its average volume of 821,623. The stock's 50 day moving average is $340.03 and its 200 day moving average is $319.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, 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 was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $435.00 to $420.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $369.83.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,075 shares in the company, 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 the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.