Bamco Inc. NY Sells 60,193 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Bamco Inc. NY trimmed its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 47.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 65,448 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 60,193 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $15,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 18.3% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 260.7% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,602,000 after buying an additional 9,854 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at about $833,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,627 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,238,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 56.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 216 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $323.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $276.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $255.43. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $330.72.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.83.

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.