LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,703 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 403 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $2,151,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,625,446,000 after buying an additional 48,439 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in LPL Financial by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,586,000 after purchasing an additional 275,286 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,472,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,011,000 after buying an additional 153,072 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.5 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $220.82 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $215.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $289.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.88.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Barclays lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities raised their target price on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.27.

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.