LPL Financial Holdings Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.30 (NASDAQ:LPLA)

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of 0.30 per share by the financial services provider on Tuesday, March 24th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th.

LPL Financial has increased its dividend by an average of 0.0%annually over the last three years. LPL Financial has a dividend payout ratio of 5.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect LPL Financial to earn $23.34 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.1%.

LPL Financial Stock Down 2.2%

NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $8.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $354.64. The stock had a trading volume of 327,725 shares, compared to its average volume of 573,126. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. The company has a market capitalization of $28.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $358.40.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.25 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

LPLA has been the subject of several recent research reports. 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. Citizens Jmp increased their target price on LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $406.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $440.00 to $433.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $428.40.

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.