LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Wells Fargo & Company

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $362.00 to $350.00 in a research note published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on LPLA. Bank of America reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $557.00 to $554.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $387.00 to $393.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $401.00 to $409.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $400.60.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.5%

LPLA stock opened at $283.74 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $330.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.02. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.53. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $5.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.69 by $0.28. The firm had revenue of $5.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 32.36%. The business’s revenue was up 17.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.20 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 23.50 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.88%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.36, for a total transaction of $110,066.88. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,397.52. This represents a 4.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 23,602 shares in the company, valued at $8,387,678.76. This represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 4,867 shares of company stock worth $1,726,944 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,333,189,000. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,182,595,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,079,000 after purchasing an additional 289,227 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,734,395 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $520,631,000 after purchasing an additional 12,922 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting LPL Financial

Here are the key news stories impacting LPL Financial this week:

• Positive Sentiment: LPL added Anchor Financial Partners to its broker-dealer and RIA platforms. The team reportedly serves approximately $525 million in advisory, brokerage and retirement-plan assets, adding to LPL’s advisor network and asset base. LPL Financial Welcomes Anchor Financial Partners
• Positive Sentiment: A Bell Global Equities Fund investor letter pushed back against concerns that artificial intelligence could disrupt LPL’s advisor-driven business model, supporting the long-term value of its independent wealth-management platform. Bell Global Equities Fund on AI Disruption Concerns
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS lowered its target from $390 to $369 but maintained a Buy rating, implying substantial upside based on the referenced share price. This indicates analysts remain divided rather than uniformly bearish. UBS LPL Financial Ratings
• Negative Sentiment: TD Cowen, Barclays, Wells Fargo, Truist Financial and JPMorgan Chase all issued lower expectations or price targets for LPLA. TD Cowen’s revised target was reported at $356, while the cluster of reductions weakened investor sentiment and contributed to the stock’s decline. TD Cowen Cuts LPL Financial Target
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reported insider activity showed four open-market sales and no purchases over six months, adding a modest additional cautionary signal.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc is a financial services company that supports independent financial advisors and institutions across the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, LPL Financial LLC, the company provides brokerage, investment advisory, and custodial services, enabling advisors to serve individual investors, families, retirement plans, and other clients.

LPL’s platform includes access to brokerage and advisory products, securities clearing and custody, trading and operations support, technology, compliance services, investment research, and practice-management resources.