LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on LPLA. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Citigroup lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Rothschild Redb lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $395.77.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of LPLA opened at $314.73 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 3.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $354.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $353.72. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $236.59 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.61.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total value of $28,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.05, for a total transaction of $561,075.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,151,836. This trade represents a 7.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,080 shares of company stock worth $1,097,290. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 77.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,249 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $402,312,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1,453.3% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,795,000 after acquiring an additional 971,814 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,745,000 after acquiring an additional 926,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 786.2% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,849,000 after acquiring an additional 851,115 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.