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

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $322.75.

Several research firms recently commented on LPLA. TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $296,635,000 after acquiring an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.0% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after purchasing an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% in the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after purchasing an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in LPL Financial by 82.0% in the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $331.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $310.01 and its 200-day moving average is $262.31. The company has a market cap of $24.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.86. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $336.40.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.02%.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.