Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,444 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 533.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $3,648,000. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,070,000 after acquiring an additional 20,123 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 68.2% during the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 217,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,586,000 after purchasing an additional 88,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at $918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $317.05 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $258.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.31. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $322.03. The firm has a market cap of $23.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 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.