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

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $428.7143.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on LPLA. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd.

LPL Financial Stock Up 2.5%

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $300.28 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.45. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $336.46 and a 200 day moving average of $346.46. The firm has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,581 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total value of $506,710.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. The trade was a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total transaction of $675,196.35. Following the transaction, the director owned 14,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This trade represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837. 0.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 18.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after purchasing an additional 619,715 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% during 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 buying an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in LPL Financial by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after buying an additional 165,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in LPL Financial by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.