Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Buys 126 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 126 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $124,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 417 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $99,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 496 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 2,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lido Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $443,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total transaction of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,044 shares in the company, valued at $35,131,229.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total value of $346,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 10,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,730,292.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total value of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,131,229.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,151 shares of company stock worth $15,911,088. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $262.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $262.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $240.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $179.00 and a 12-month high of $274.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.55 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 57.68% and a net margin of 10.61%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.79%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. JMP Securities raised their target price on LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James began coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.36.

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.