LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen Sells 1,088 Shares

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Marc Eliot Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 9th, Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $5.34 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $302.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 721,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,220. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The company has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $349.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $350.97.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.2% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

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.