LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Bought by Markel Group Inc.

Markel Group Inc. grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 532,404 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the period. LPL Financial accounts for approximately 1.5% of Markel Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Markel Group Inc. owned about 0.71% of LPL Financial worth $173,835,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Alliance increased its stake in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the period. Sanchez Wealth Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 1.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in LPL Financial by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on LPLA. Citigroup boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $379.17.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $10.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $308.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 895,219 shares, compared to its average volume of 782,632. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $352.96 and a 200-day moving average of $302.43. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $384.04. The stock has a market cap of $23.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

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.