Blair William & Co. IL Sells 686 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Blair William & Co. IL reduced its position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 686 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $6,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 360.7% during the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 74.7% in the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.4 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $215.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $216.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $251.88. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $289.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $275.27.

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.