LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $362.00 to $350.00. The stock had previously closed at $317.56, but opened at $294.17. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. LPL Financial shares last traded at $278.73, with a volume of 440,282 shares traded.

LPLA has been the subject of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $400.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their price target on LPL Financial from $377.00 to $380.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $557.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Capital One Financial set a $370.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.44.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Katharine Reeping sold 440 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.88, for a total value of $153,067.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $617,139.12. The trade was a 19.87% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,867 shares of company stock valued at $2,079,664. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting LPL Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q3 earnings and business growth: LPL reported adjusted EPS of $5.97, exceeding the $5.69 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 17.4% year over year to $5.34 billion, broadly in line with expectations. Net income reached $357 million, compared with a loss of $30 million in the prior-year quarter. LPL Financial Announces Third Quarter 2026 Results
• Positive Sentiment: Client assets and capital returns increased: Total client assets grew 11% to $2.6 trillion, advisory assets climbed 16% to $1.6 trillion, and organic net new assets totaled approximately $29.1 billion. LPL also repurchased about $301 million of stock and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.30 per share. LPL Financial Q3 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Commonwealth integration remains on track: Management expects to complete the Commonwealth Financial Network conversion in the fourth quarter of 2026, with estimated run-rate EBITDA of $415 million. LPL Financial Third Quarter Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst views remain mixed: The average reported price target is $409.69, implying substantial potential upside, but Truist lowered its target from $354 to $335 and downgraded its rating to “hold.” Truist Financial LPL Financial Rating
• Negative Sentiment: Recruiting momentum weakened: Recruited assets fell 26% year over year to $24 billion, although trailing-12-month recruited assets remained $81 billion. Management also lowered expected Commonwealth asset retention to approximately 83%, which may be contributing to investor caution. LPL Financial Q3 Key Metrics

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,182,595,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,103,079,000 after acquiring an additional 289,227 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,734,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $520,631,000 after buying an additional 12,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $335.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $324.30. The stock has a market cap of $21.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.17 and a beta of 0.53.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $5.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.69 by $0.28. The company had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.35 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.57%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc is a financial services company that supports independent financial advisors and institutions across the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, LPL Financial LLC, the company provides brokerage, investment advisory, and custodial services, enabling advisors to serve individual investors, families, retirement plans, and other clients.

LPL’s platform includes access to brokerage and advisory products, securities clearing and custody, trading and operations support, technology, compliance services, investment research, and practice-management resources.