Marc Eliot Cohen Sells 1,088 Shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. The trade was a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Marc Eliot Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 9th, Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $5.34 on Wednesday, hitting $302.96. 721,060 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 966,220. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $349.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $350.97. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reduced their target price on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $428.71.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 1,742,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $593,663,000 after buying an additional 12,214 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 41.5% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 5,341 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 1,566 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 116.6% in the third quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 5,568 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 24.5% in the third quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 187,973 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $62,537,000 after acquiring an additional 36,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Munich Reinsurance Co Stock Corp in Munich acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,975,000. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.