PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,897 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 909 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $1,599,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $295,982,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after purchasing an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% in the 3rd quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,472,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its position in LPL Financial by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,635,000 after buying an additional 223,931 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on LPLA. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $321.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $352.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.67. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $384.04. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors 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 yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

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.