Teacher Retirement System of Texas Trims Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 52.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,370 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 25,132 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in LPL Financial were worth $7,304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,483 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Sanchez Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 45.3% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on LPLA shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

LPL Financial Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $327.90 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $351.95 and its 200 day moving average is $307.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

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.