LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Coverage Initiated at BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued an outperform rating and a $365.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on LPLA. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $405.00 price objective on the stock. Rothschild Redb cut shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. TD Cowen cut shares of LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $463.00 to $460.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $395.77.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $314.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.22, a current ratio of 3.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $236.59 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a market cap of $25.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $354.17 and its 200 day moving average is $353.72.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 8.21%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total value of $507,315.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 17,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,959,260.20. This represents a 7.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $361.25, for a total transaction of $28,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,016,497.50. This trade represents a 1.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,080 shares of company stock valued at $1,097,290. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 77.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after buying an additional 1,178,249 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at about $402,312,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 1,453.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,038,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $339,795,000 after buying an additional 971,814 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 61.1% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,442,182 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $915,745,000 after buying an additional 926,122 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 786.2% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 959,371 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $313,849,000 after buying an additional 851,115 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 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.