LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives $395.85 Average PT from Analysts

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $398.3846.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $463.00 to $438.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Rothschild Redb lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $460.00 to $411.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, September 19th.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $339.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $252.55 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $342.16 and a 200 day moving average of $353.72.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

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 directly owned 5,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. The trade was a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total transaction of $507,315.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,620 shares in the company, valued at $5,959,260.20. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,830 shares of company stock worth $1,333,105 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 123.1% during the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 234.5% during the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 97 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.