Financial Advocates Investment Management Takes $205,000 Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 882 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 38.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,057,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 533.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at approximately $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in LPL Financial by 23.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,923,000 after acquiring an additional 21,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its position in LPL Financial by 5.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $273.98 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $235.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $291.67. The company has a market capitalization of $20.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.85.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.08% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.77 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio 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.