LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.24 EPS

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24, Zacks reports. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $361.05 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $334.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $273.11. LPL Financial has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $379.37.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $288.00 to $397.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $354.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.