Zacks Research Analysts Cut Earnings Estimates for LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q3 2024 EPS estimates for LPL Financial in a research note issued on Tuesday, May 21st. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the financial services provider will post earnings per share of $3.80 for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $3.85. The consensus estimate for LPL Financial’s current full-year earnings is $15.86 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for LPL Financial’s Q4 2024 earnings at $4.07 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $15.76 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $4.73 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $5.23 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $19.26 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $22.69 EPS.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.68 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 55.22%.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $276.20.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.7 %

LPLA opened at $274.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $265.73 and its 200 day moving average is $247.64. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $190.13 and a fifty-two week high of $277.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.73, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.83.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,446,000 after buying an additional 48,439 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,145,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $509,945,000 after buying an additional 79,869 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,586,000 after buying an additional 275,286 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 21.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,026,721 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $233,744,000 after buying an additional 181,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,472,000 after buying an additional 23,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total value of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares in the company, valued at $37,798,037.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 34,807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.54, for a total transaction of $9,277,457.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,810 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,798,037.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kabir Sethi sold 1,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.50, for a total transaction of $346,450.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 10,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,730,292.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,681 shares of company stock worth $11,109,490 over the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.06%.

About LPL Financial

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.