Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP Files Class Action Suit Against LPL Financial Holdings Inc.

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Mar 22, 2016, 10:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, March 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP ("Robbins Geller") (http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/lplfinancial/) today announced that a class action has been commenced on behalf of an institutional investor in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California on behalf of purchasers of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. ("LPL") (NASDAQ:LPLA) common stock during the period between December 8, 2015 and February 11, 2016 (the "Class Period").

If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than 60 days from today. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact plaintiff's counsel, Darren Robbins of Robbins Geller at 800/449-4900 or 619/231-1058, or via e-mail at [email protected]. If you are a member of this class, you can view a copy of the complaint as filed or join this class action online at http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/lplfinancial/. Any member of the putative class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may choose to do nothing and remain an absent class member.

The complaint charges LPL and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. LPL is an independent broker-dealer, a custodian for registered investment advisors and an independent consultant to retirement plans. Prior to 2010, LPL was majority owned by TPG Capital ("TPG") and Hellman & Friedman LLC, two private equity firms. In November 2010, these private equity firms took LPL public in an initial public offering ("IPO") in which 15.7 million LPL shares were sold to the public at $30 per share. TPG retained a substantial ownership stake in the Company after the IPO and influence over its affairs. Following the IPO, the Company became the subject of several regulatory and governmental investigations into allegedly fraudulent, deceptive and/or legally deficient business practices at LPL and among its network of financial advisors.

The complaint alleges that during the Class Period, defendants issued false and misleading statements and/or failed to disclose adverse information regarding LPL's business and prospects, including that LPL's earnings and revenue were not steady, but were substantially declining; LPL's client assets were not in the midst of a recovery, but were actually deteriorating and would decline by billions of dollars; and LPL's gross profits would not decline "slightly," but significantly, and LPL would in fact experience its worst sequential gross profit decline in four years. As a result of defendants' false statements and/or omissions, LPL common stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period, reaching a high of $45.06 per share on December 8, 2015.

On December 10, 2015, LPL announced the early completion of its accelerated share repurchase program. TPG sold 4.3 million shares of LPL common stock at $43.27 per share for approximately $187 million in proceeds.

Then on February 11, 2016, LPL announced its fourth quarter and full year 2015 financial results, including adjusted earnings per share of $0.37 per share, well below consensus analyst estimates of $0.51 per share. The Company also revealed disappointing revenues, primarily as a result of dramatically lower commission revenues and revenues from alternative investments, as well as higher-than-expected expenses for the quarter. As a result of this news, the price of LPL common stock dropped $8.76 per share to close at $16.50 per share on February 12, 2016, a one-day decline of nearly 35% and a decline of 63% from the stock's Class Period high.

Plaintiff seeks to recover damages on behalf of all purchasers of LPL common stock during the Class Period (the "Class"). The plaintiff is represented by Robbins Geller, which has extensive experience in prosecuting investor class actions including actions involving financial fraud.

Robbins Geller, with 200 lawyers in ten offices, represents U.S. and international institutional investors in contingency-based securities and corporate litigation. The firm has obtained many of the largest securities class action recoveries in history and was ranked first in both the amount and number of shareholder class action recoveries in ISS's SCAS Top 50 report for 2014. Please visit http://www.rgrdlaw.com/cases/lplfinancial/ for more information.

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SOURCE Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP