LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities 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 twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $397.9231.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on LPLA. Barclays lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $412.00 to $394.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $328.55 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 firm has a 50-day moving average of $296.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.76. The stock has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year 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 expect that LPL Financial will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 10.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth about $371,616,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4,435.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 747,086 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $210,439,000 after buying an additional 730,613 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.