LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target Raised to $463.00

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target increased by Barclays from $460.00 to $463.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LPLA has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JMP Securities increased their target price on LPL Financial from $420.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $420.00 to $460.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $490.00 price objective (up from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $381.08.

LPL Financial Trading Down 6.5%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $369.91 on Friday. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $378.53 and its 200-day moving average is $355.09. The firm has a market cap of $29.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.66.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 47.01% and a net margin of 7.91%. The company’s revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 20,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,889,830.60. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 224.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 1,523,460 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $498,385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,053,351 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 1,453.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,795,000 after purchasing an additional 971,814 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 786.2% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $313,849,000 after purchasing an additional 851,115 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 550.5% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 759,206 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $248,367,000 after purchasing an additional 642,503 shares during the period. Finally, Egerton Capital UK LLP increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 238.1% in the first quarter. Egerton Capital UK LLP now owns 871,265 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $285,026,000 after purchasing an additional 613,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.