UBS Group Upgrades LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) to “Hold”

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was upgraded by UBS Group to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JMP Securities set a $475.00 price objective on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Rothschild Redb lowered LPL Financial from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on LPL Financial from $463.00 to $438.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $427.86.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $380.96 on Thursday. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $353.19 and a 200 day moving average of $360.98. 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 firm has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.08, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,620 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,581.40. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total value of $28,198.40. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,138 shares of company stock valued at $2,983,353 in the last three months. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 912.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its stake in LPL Financial by 72.0% in the 3rd quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 86 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.