LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $379.17.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on LPLA shares. Citigroup increased their target price on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock valued at $12,562,070 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $295,982,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after acquiring an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $996,032,000 after purchasing an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $313.23 on Friday. LPL Financial has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $353.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.31, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. As a group, analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.55%.

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.