LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $276.20.

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $269.00 to $271.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $302.00 to $312.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $254.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total transaction of $1,574,288.87. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,446,000 after purchasing an additional 48,439 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in LPL Financial by 71.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after acquiring an additional 738,509 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in LPL Financial by 33.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in LPL Financial by 2.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,472,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 19.8% during the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $279.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $276.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.83. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $200.18 and a 52 week high of $289.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.77 by $0.44. LPL Financial had a net margin of 9.71% and a return on equity of 55.22%. The firm had revenue of $2.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.68 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 15.85 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 4th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 21st were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 20th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.06%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.