Winthrop Advisory Group LLC Trims Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Winthrop Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. LPL Financial comprises approximately 0.8% of Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Winthrop Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $3,375,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in LPL Financial by 42.9% during the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,882,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,686 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 228.6% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 55,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,707,000 after purchasing an additional 38,839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in LPL Financial by 21.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,026,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,744,000 after purchasing an additional 181,594 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on LPLA. Barclays raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Raymond James initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen raised their price target on LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.20.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA stock traded up $2.89 during trading on Friday, hitting $279.30. 975,035 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 484,687. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $258.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.89. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $200.18 and a 1 year high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.68 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 55.22% and a net margin of 9.71%. On average, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 20th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total transaction of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.