LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Trading Down 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) traded down 1.9% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $374.83 and last traded at $376.07. 272,785 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 614,979 shares. The stock had previously closed at $383.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $27.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.78. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.32%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the sale, the director now owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in LPL Financial by 50.6% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,685,000 after acquiring an additional 5,320 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp grew its position in LPL Financial by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 192,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $62,740,000 after buying an additional 14,106 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.