OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Raises Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,403 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Smithfield Trust Co raised its stake in LPL Financial by 164.4% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan Co. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP raised its stake in LPL Financial by 220.4% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James assumed coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $268.36.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total transaction of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total transaction of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,730,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088 in the last three months. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $262.59 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $262.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.77. The firm has a market cap of $19.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $179.00 and a 1 year high of $274.35.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.21 EPS. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

About LPL Financial

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.