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

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $406.6923.

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Barclays boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the sale, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at about $601,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt bought a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $169,000. Concorde Asset Management LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $317,000. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,466,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $618,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $368.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $260.15 and a fifty-two week high of $400.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $322.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $315.64. The company has a market cap of $29.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The company had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.51 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.57%.

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.