LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $276.20.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Raymond James assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued an “underperform” rating for the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $305.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,446,000 after acquiring an additional 48,439 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in LPL Financial by 33.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in LPL Financial by 2.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,472,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 19.8% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $279.30 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.27. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $200.18 and a twelve month high of $289.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The company has a market cap of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.89.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.77 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $2.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.68 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 55.22%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 15.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.06%.

About LPL Financial

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.