Jennison Associates LLC Increases Stock Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 46.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 29,895 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $22,065,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Key Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 360.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

LPLA stock opened at $326.85 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $260.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $252.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $327.55.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.74 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.08 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.02%.

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.