WoodTrust Financial Corp Acquires New Shares in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

WoodTrust Financial Corp bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 702 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 96.8% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 5.2% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 1,054 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 106.4% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 8,020 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,866,000 after buying an additional 4,134 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 36,380 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,386,000 after buying an additional 13,814 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Barclays lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,770 shares of company stock worth $12,663,312. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $336.46 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04. The business’s fifty day moving average is $353.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

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.