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

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $376.33.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $415.00 to $400.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th.

LPL Financial Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $287.86 on Tuesday. LPL Financial has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.47 billion, a PE ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $347.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $316.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th were issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 43,518.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 155,719 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $50,942,000 after purchasing an additional 155,362 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1,192.9% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 181 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 325.0% during the 1st quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 2,397 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,833 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 63.9% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 100 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 113,287 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,989,000 after acquiring an additional 3,425 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

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.