LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) in a report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $235.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on LPLA. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a market outperform rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America raised LPL Financial from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $268.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $275.27.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $206.98 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $224.72 and a 200 day simple moving average of $254.53. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $289.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.14% and a net margin of 8.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.94 EPS. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.06%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,625,446,000 after buying an additional 48,439 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,684,000 after purchasing an additional 88,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in LPL Financial by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,586,000 after purchasing an additional 275,286 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.