Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $5.91 Million Stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 15.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $5,913,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $287,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.6% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 6.5% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 59,631 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $16,655,000 after buying an additional 3,644 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth $559,000. Finally, Tortoise Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 74.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 131 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $326.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.20. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $336.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.74 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on LPLA. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on LPL Financial from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.75.

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.