Insider Selling: LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells 2,212 Shares of Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,694,420. This trade represents a 28.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, March 10th, Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.7%

NASDAQ LPLA traded down $5.34 on Wednesday, reaching $302.96. The company had a trading volume of 721,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,220. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.83 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $349.32 and a 200-day moving average of $350.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $68,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their target price on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.