Wedbush Securities Inc. Makes New $216,000 Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Wedbush Securities Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Key Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Crewe Advisors LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 360.7% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 74.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $235.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $275.27.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $205.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $15.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.88. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $289.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $221.86 and a 200-day moving average of $253.67.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.06%.

LPL Financial Company 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.