Magnetar Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 3,475 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $918,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth about $3,375,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,923,000 after buying an additional 21,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,965,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,546,624.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded down $17.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $221.24. 2,638,501 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,440,948. The business has a 50-day moving average of $268.42 and a 200 day moving average of $261.65. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $200.18 and a fifty-two week high of $289.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 54.38% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.76 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JMP Securities upped their price target on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $282.55.

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.