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

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $397.9231.

A number of research analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. TD Cowen reduced their price target on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 580.0% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $324.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $293.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $317.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.