Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $415.00 to $400.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the financial services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.90% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on LPLA. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $380.42.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $312.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $349.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $314.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $384.04.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 over the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,913,000 after acquiring an additional 3,444 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,740,000 after acquiring an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 335,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $109,625,000 after purchasing an additional 13,936 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.