Cetera Trust Company N.A Acquires New Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,210 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $275,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,882,000 after buying an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,965,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 228.6% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 55,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,707,000 after buying an additional 38,839 shares in the last quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 74,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $16,985,000 after buying an additional 4,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,287,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $262.59 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $262.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.90. 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. The firm has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 57.68% and a net margin of 10.61%. The firm had revenue of $2.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.21 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 13.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 12th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. JMP Securities increased their price target on LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $268.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 141,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,798,037.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 137,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,131,229.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,798,037.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.