Aneri Jambusaria Sells 308 Shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.8%

LPLA stock opened at $295.10 on Wednesday. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $260.15 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The business’s 50-day moving average is $301.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $326.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The company has a market cap of $23.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.98 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods began coverage on LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $398.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter valued at $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 27,955.5% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $371,616,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $793,163,000 after buying an additional 702,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.