Analysts Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) PT at $398.86

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the sixteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $398.8571.

Several analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Monday, April 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $369.00 to $412.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $380.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $293.27 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $296.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $322.64. The firm has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $260.15 and a 52-week high of $403.58. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.49 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.15 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 22.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 10.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This trade represents a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 1,110 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $330.01, for a total value of $366,311.10. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 19,803 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,188.03. The trade was a 5.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 1,887 shares of company stock valued at $613,144 in the last quarter. 0.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Dodge & Cox grew its position in LPL Financial by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,948,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,410,454,000 after purchasing an additional 619,715 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after buying an additional 477,094 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.6% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,666,780 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,103,079,000 after buying an additional 289,227 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 37.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,625,357 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,294,869,000 after buying an additional 996,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,636,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $793,163,000 after buying an additional 702,061 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.