Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 7,593 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lowered its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 476,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,593 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.63% of LPL Financial worth $108,520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $124,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 985 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Lido Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Sanchez Wealth Management Group increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,645 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,798,037.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,798,037.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total transaction of $346,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,730,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,681 shares of company stock worth $11,109,490. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

LPLA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.20.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $274.49 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $190.13 and a 52-week high of $277.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a fifty day moving average of $265.73 and a 200-day moving average of $247.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.44. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 55.22%. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. Equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.86 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.06%.

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.