Analysts Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target at $429.00

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $429.00.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered shares of LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, September 19th. 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. UBS Group set a $455.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $356.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 3rd.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the sale, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.99, for a total transaction of $1,876,467.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 9,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,459,852.74. The trade was a 35.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,983,353. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 valued at $2,762,581,000 after buying an additional 317,002 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its position in LPL Financial by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,379,598,000 after buying an additional 165,201 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after acquiring an additional 627,546 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after acquiring an additional 800,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.8% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,681,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,264,000 after acquiring an additional 20,881 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $374.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $348.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $360.55. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $262.83 and a 52-week high of $403.58.

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

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.