LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (LPLA) – What Are Researchers Saying About This Stock?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and fourteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $400.60.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, October 5th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $380.00 to $356.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $354.00 to $335.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total transaction of $1,463,810.22. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Katharine Reeping sold 440 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $347.88, for a total transaction of $153,067.20. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $617,139.12. This represents a 19.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,867 shares of company stock worth $1,726,944. 0.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M Holdings Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter worth $914,000. Ethic Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 6.5% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 5,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in LPL Financial by 4.8% during the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 41,378 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,653,000 after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth about $152,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $297.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 2.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.18 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.55. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $260.15 and a 1-year high of $400.16. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $327.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $322.32.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The financial services provider reported $5.97 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.69 by $0.28. LPL Financial had a net margin of 6.83% and a return on equity of 32.05%. The business had revenue of $5.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 23.45 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 12th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 6.88%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc is a financial services company that supports independent financial advisors and institutions across the United States. Through its primary subsidiary, LPL Financial LLC, the company provides brokerage, investment advisory, and custodial services, enabling advisors to serve individual investors, families, retirement plans, and other clients.

LPL’s platform includes access to brokerage and advisory products, securities clearing and custody, trading and operations support, technology, compliance services, investment research, and practice-management resources.