Everence Capital Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,610 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Everence Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,610 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $526,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 98.9% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 7,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,782,000 after purchasing an additional 3,809 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at $182,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.75.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $333.09 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $316.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.88. 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 $336.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

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.