UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at UBS Group from $395.00 to $391.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target suggests a potential upside of 27.64% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $396.00 to $390.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.57.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.4%

LPL Financial stock traded down $1.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $306.33. The stock had a trading volume of 202,925 shares, compared to its average volume of 990,792. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $294.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $320.70.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 22.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 over the last 90 days. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after buying an additional 619,715 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after acquiring an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,103,079,000 after purchasing an additional 289,227 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after purchasing an additional 996,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after purchasing an additional 702,061 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.