Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,899 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 0.43% of LPL Financial worth $74,863,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of LPLA. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1,640.7% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 940 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 136.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,211 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 18.3% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at about $3,648,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 260.7% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,602,000 after buying an additional 9,854 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. TD Cowen increased their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. 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, five have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $325.72 on Friday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $330.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $270.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $254.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.85.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.74 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.