Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 148 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 148 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $15,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 38.8% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,057,000 after purchasing an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,375,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 533.8% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at $3,648,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,923,000 after acquiring an additional 21,481 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target 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. TD Cowen raised their target price on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.30.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $224.34 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $256.96. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $289.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results 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. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.06%.

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.