LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $428.7143.

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $293.27 on Tuesday. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $262.83 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.59. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $337.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $346.95. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% in the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.