Insider Selling: LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells $402,435.00 in Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. This trade represents a 21.26 % 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 the SEC website.

LPL Financial Trading Up 2.8 %

LPL Financial stock opened at $371.74 on Friday. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 12 month low of $187.19 and a 12 month high of $384.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $352.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $295.52. The stock has a market cap of $27.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on LPLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 10.3% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 945 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 11,516.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 92,819 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $21,592,000 after purchasing an additional 92,020 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 15,600 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,629,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $266,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in LPL Financial by 1.5% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 8,718 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,004,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.