Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Makes New $305,000 Investment in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,313 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after purchasing an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 31.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 774,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,227,000 after purchasing an additional 183,755 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 52.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 477,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $133,285,000 after purchasing an additional 164,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after purchasing an additional 153,072 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on LPLA shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $314.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $252.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.23. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $322.03. The stock has a market cap of $23.51 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.02%.

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.