TD Cowen Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at TD Cowen from $410.00 to $399.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 8.71% from the stock’s current price.

LPLA has been the subject of several other reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut LPL Financial from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $390.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, September 19th. JMP Securities set a $475.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Citigroup reiterated 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 given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.07.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA traded up $2.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $367.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 159,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 509,328. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $365.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $358.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.57. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $262.83 and a fifty-two week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The business had revenue of $4.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.08 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Richard Steinmeier sold 5,058 shares of LPL Financial 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total value of $28,198.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 7,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,747,538 over the last quarter. 0.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 165,201 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,107,610,000 after purchasing an additional 627,546 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 800,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.