DGS Capital Management LLC Sells 54 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

DGS Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,581 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 164.4% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 119 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. First Manhattan Co. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 220.4% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 173 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, First Capital Advisors Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth $49,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on LPLA. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $266.00 to $269.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James started coverage on LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $268.36.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $260.11 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $179.00 and a twelve month high of $274.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $261.97 and its 200 day moving average is $240.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The company has a market cap of $19.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.33 by $0.18. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 57.68% and a net margin of 10.61%. The company had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.21 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 12th were given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.79%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total transaction of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares in the company, valued at $37,798,037.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,798,037.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total transaction of $346,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares in the company, valued at $2,730,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 60,151 shares of company stock worth $15,911,088 over the last three months. 1.00% 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.