Matthew Audette Sells 1,581 Shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) CFO Matthew Audette sold 1,581 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA traded down $19.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $300.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,318,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 989,212. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 2.60. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $358.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $353.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The company had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 10.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. AGF Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 765,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $286,861,000 after acquiring an additional 327,580 shares during the period. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $316,000. WCM Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,742,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,663,000 after purchasing an additional 12,214 shares during the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in LPL Financial by 41.5% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,566 shares during the period. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 116.6% during the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp set a $475.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.