LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $288.89.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $215.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $267.34 and a 200-day moving average of $261.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $200.18 and a 1-year high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 54.38%. The company’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,546,624.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth $3,375,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 533.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,923,000 after purchasing an additional 21,481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 34,863 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $7,965,000 after purchasing an additional 4,686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.