Matthew Audette Sells 1,581 Shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) CFO Matthew Audette sold 1,581 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.50, for a total transaction of $506,710.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 21,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,852,931. This trade represents a 6.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

LPL Financial Stock Down 6.0%

Shares of LPLA traded down $19.17 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $300.38. The company had a trading volume of 1,318,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 989,212. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.58. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $358.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $353.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.41. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The company had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is currently 10.90%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 912.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Citizens Jmp set a $475.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $428.71.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.