Victory Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 71.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 34,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 85,732 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $11,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of LPLA. FMR LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 24.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,581,000 after purchasing an additional 36,474 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of 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 worth $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westfield Capital Management Co. LP raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 710,867 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $165,369,000 after acquiring an additional 126,266 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $308.87 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.07 billion, a PE ratio of 22.00, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $352.96 and its 200-day moving average is $302.43.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

About LPL Financial

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.