LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 47.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 496,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 449,661 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $138,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 74.7% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen upped their price target on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.27.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock opened at $230.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $289.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $215.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.91.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.88 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

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.