LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $398.8571.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total transaction of $366,311.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. This trade represents a 5.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00. Following the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,879 shares of company stock valued at $1,538,826. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stratos Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.2% during the third quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 5,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Natural Investments LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Natural Investments LLC now owns 727 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $259,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $273.77 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $335.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.90 billion, a PE ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.15 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.71%.

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.