Insider Selling: LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells $675,196.35 in Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

LPL Financial Stock Down 6.0%

LPLA opened at $300.38 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.59. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The business’s fifty day moving average is $357.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.20.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 10.90%.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AGF Management Ltd. grew its position in LPL Financial by 74.9% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 765,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,861,000 after acquiring an additional 327,580 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $316,000. WCM Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,742,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $593,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,214 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its position in LPL Financial by 41.5% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 116.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on LPLA shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen cut their price target on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $428.71.

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.