LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target Lowered to $383.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target lowered by Jefferies Financial Group from $464.00 to $383.00 in a research report report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $426.43.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $294.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market cap of $23.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $321.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $343.44. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.25 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. This trade represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after purchasing an additional 619,715 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,294,869,000 after purchasing an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,377,553 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,206,371,000 after purchasing an additional 280,202 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.