Sapient Capital LLC Takes $655,000 Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,878 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $655,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LPLA. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 50,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,882,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 15.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 4,686 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 228.6% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 55,827 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $12,707,000 after purchasing an additional 38,839 shares during the period. Reinhart Partners LLC. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 74,620 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,985,000 after purchasing an additional 4,333 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,629 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $276.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total value of $354,834.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,419.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.35, for a total value of $2,563,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 137,044 shares in the company, valued at $35,131,229.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,381 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.94, for a total transaction of $354,834.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,634 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,419.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,151 shares of company stock valued at $15,911,088. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of LPLA traded up $1.32 on Friday, reaching $270.79. 480,869 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 533,351. The company has a current ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $264.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $243.19. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $179.00 and a 12 month high of $276.12.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The financial services provider reported $3.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $2.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.55 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 56.36%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.21 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.82 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.