LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $379.17.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $336.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.13 billion, a PE ratio of 24.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $353.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. Equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,954,837.66. The trade was a 21.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last quarter. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at $6,821,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 37.5% in the 4th quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 231,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $75,587,000 after buying an additional 63,100 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 143.9% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,681,000 after acquiring an additional 10,266 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth about $450,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.