Argent Capital Management LLC Raises Position in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Argent Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,465 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in LPL Financial were worth $3,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after buying an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 71.9% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 8.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,684,000 after purchasing an additional 88,635 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in LPL Financial by 33.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,586,000 after purchasing an additional 275,286 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after purchasing an additional 153,072 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. TD Cowen increased their target price on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $325.00 to $285.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $277.77.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of LPLA stock traded up $2.54 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $260.54. 124,888 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 733,637. The company has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.88. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The company’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.79 earnings per share for the current year.

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.