Mather Group LLC. Grows Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 108,256 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,347,000 after acquiring an additional 13,406 shares in the last quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $331,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,762 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 1,887.6% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 44,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $14,394,000 after purchasing an additional 41,866 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Diamond Partners LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $212,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $371.05 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $27.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $338.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.76. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $375.74.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

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.