LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC cut its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 10.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,857 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 330 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 293,471 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $66,800,000 after purchasing an additional 9,539 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 226.3% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 38,076 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,667,000 after purchasing an additional 26,406 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 1,820 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 583,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $132,791,000 after purchasing an additional 15,096 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.27.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $206.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $15.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $224.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.53. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The company’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.9 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

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.