LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $429.00.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $421.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $377.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $341.31 and a 200-day moving average of $360.00. The stock has a market cap of $30.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.63. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total value of $507,315.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 17,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,959,260.20. The trade was a 7.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total value of $28,900.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,582 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 3,830 shares of company stock valued at $1,336,675 in the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AGF Management Ltd. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 765,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,861,000 after buying an additional 327,580 shares during the last quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter valued at $316,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 8.8% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,304,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $426,846,000 after acquiring an additional 105,665 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 5.4% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 354,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $115,808,000 after acquiring an additional 18,252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $1,728,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.