LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Earns Market Outperform Rating from Citizens Jmp

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA)‘s stock had its “market outperform” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Citizens Jmp in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $500.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock. Citizens Jmp’s price target points to a potential upside of 68.11% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $426.43.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $297.43 on Monday. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $266.62 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $320.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $343.17. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 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 company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. This trade represents a 19.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,742,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,214 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 41.5% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 187,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,537,000 after acquiring an additional 36,950 shares during the period. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,975,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.