Cigna Investments Inc. New Invests $244,000 in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Cigna Investments Inc. New acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 746 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $595,000. Compass Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $422,000. Sanchez Wealth Management Group grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Sanchez Wealth Management Group now owns 1,686 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $242,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the firm’s 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. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.0 %

LPLA opened at $362.42 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $341.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.81, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $375.83. 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 announced its quarterly 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 return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Company 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.