LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells $94,248.00 in Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,962,990. This represents a 4.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA traded up $3.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $297.62. The stock had a trading volume of 730,789 shares, compared to its average volume of 969,337. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $301.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $327.63. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The company has a market capitalization of $23.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.61 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $4.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.98 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 31.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.15 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 21st. 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 10.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after purchasing an additional 2,612,184 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth approximately $450,493,000. M&T Bank Corp lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27,955.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,141,019 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $407,538,000 after buying an additional 1,136,952 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $371,616,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 36.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 702,061 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods assumed coverage on LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on LPL Financial from $447.00 to $374.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $398.86.

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.