LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price Up 4.4% – Here’s What Happened

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA)’s stock price shot up 4.4% during trading on Friday. The stock traded as high as $316.47 and last traded at $316.2310. 88,430 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 897,253 shares. The stock had previously closed at $302.76.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their target price on LPL Financial from $372.00 to $377.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Truist Financial assumed coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. They set a “hold” rating and a $389.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $300.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $407.00.

LPL Financial Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $24.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $348.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $317.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.51 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.06 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 9.57%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Greg Gates sold 4,119 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $355.38, for a total value of $1,463,810.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,602 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,387,678.76. This trade represents a 14.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,867 shares of company stock worth $2,079,664. 0.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldstein Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 634 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,318 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $828,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Lifestyle Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,191 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $425,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the first quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 5,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sterling Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,766,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:LPLA) is the parent company of LPL Financial LLC, an independent broker-dealer and registered investment adviser that provides services and support to financial advisors. Rather than operating primarily through a proprietary branch network, LPL enables independent financial professionals, registered investment advisers, and advisors affiliated with banks and credit unions to operate their own practices while accessing investment products, technology, and business resources.

The company’s platform supports brokerage and fee-based advisory services, retirement plan services, insurance and annuity products, alternative investments, cash management, research, compliance, and practice management.