LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.22 EPS

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22, Briefing.com reports. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 55.22% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA stock traded down $17.96 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $221.24. The company had a trading volume of 2,638,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $269.35 and a 200-day moving average of $261.76. The company has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.94, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.90. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $200.18 and a 12-month high of $289.88.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley raised LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James initiated coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $282.55.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at $39,546,624.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.