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

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $397.9231.

LPLA has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $408.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Egerton Capital UK LLP acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,012,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,204,000 after acquiring an additional 5,179 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $199,998,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $371,616,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $324.90 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. LPL Financial has a 1 year low of $260.15 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.99 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.15 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 23.38 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid 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 was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

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.