LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by Employees Retirement System of Texas

Employees Retirement System of Texas cut its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 31.5% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 168,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 77,600 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in LPL Financial were worth $47,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LPLA. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.8% in the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 1,625 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 8,152 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 74.7% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in LPL Financial by 1.0% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 5,860 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,637,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 0.9% in the first quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd now owns 6,410 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,693,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. 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, Barclays decreased their price target on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $275.27.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $230.35 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $215.12 and a 200-day moving average of $250.91. The firm has a market cap 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 current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.94 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.06%.

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.