WealthCare Investment Partners LLC Invests $222,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

WealthCare Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 677 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in LPLA. FMR LLC lifted its position 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 worth $772,930,000 after purchasing an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third 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 lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $174,472,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares in the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 82.0% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 52.2% during the third quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 643,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $149,708,000 after purchasing an additional 220,622 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.9 %

LPLA stock opened at $383.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $383.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $347.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.78. The firm has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.