LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $428.7143.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $319.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $358.84 and a 200-day moving average of $353.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.60. LPL Financial has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,581.40. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,888 shares of company stock worth $2,182,893. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in LPL Financial by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,410,454,000 after buying an additional 619,715 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after buying an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in LPL Financial by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,379,598,000 after buying an additional 165,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.