American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 15,554 Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 489,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,554 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.65% of LPL Financial worth $159,853,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,685,000 after buying an additional 5,320 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,633,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in LPL Financial by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on LPLA shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $327.90 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $351.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $307.43. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $384.04. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total value of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This trade represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% 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.