LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Trading Down 1.7% on Insider Selling

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) were down 1.7% on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $362.57 and last traded at $363.01. Approximately 172,823 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 583,975 shares. The stock had previously closed at $369.14.

Specifically, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.9 %

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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $339.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at $34,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 45.3% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Compass Financial Services Inc bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.