Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 58.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 151,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,015 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $35,355,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 1.8% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,416 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.9% during the third quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.1% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.3% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,218 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $326.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.85. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $327.55. 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 50 day moving average price of $263.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $252.97.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.02%.

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.