LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $334.93 and last traded at $334.93, with a volume of 145329 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.01.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $322.75.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $307.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.43.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LPLA. HB Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at approximately $341,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.7% in the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 26,110 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 360.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 47.9% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 21,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,137,000 after purchasing an additional 7,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 115.9% in the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 4,838 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

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.