Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 2,002 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 5.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,506 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,002 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $9,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,057,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,375,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,923,000 after buying an additional 21,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,965,000 after buying an additional 4,686 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $5.73 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $215.51. 1,126,099 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 675,438. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $268.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $200.18 and a 1 year high of $289.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 54.38% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $283.30.

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.