Matthew Enyedi Sells 1,000 Shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at $4,628,039.12. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $359.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $28.34 billion, a PE ratio of 28.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $400.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $306.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $315.66.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 32.20% and a net margin of 5.13%.The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 24.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $395.00 to $391.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.54.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 42.7% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 0.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in LPL Financial in the first quarter valued at $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 12.2% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $121,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.