LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells 1,500 Shares

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total transaction of $564,645.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,785,729.10. This represents a 8.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Greg Gates also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 6th, Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total value of $235,815.00.
• On Friday, September 5th, Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total value of $507,315.00.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of LPLA traded up $0.83 on Friday, hitting $373.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 593,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 847,154. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $340.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $357.84. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.63.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.49 by $0.71. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 36.80%. The firm had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Founders Financial Alliance LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at about $260,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Tobam grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 16.1% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 13,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the last quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% in the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 27,980 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Presidio Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $761,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $411.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $429.00.

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.