Swedbank AB Buys 2,720 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Swedbank AB raised its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 19.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,720 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,822,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 360.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $258.62 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $289.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.32.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.14% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.79 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $325.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lowered 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 report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $277.77.

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.