Brokerages Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Target Price at $397.92

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $397.9231.

Several brokerages recently commented on LPLA. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $330.00 to $326.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $374.00 to $387.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods started coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $350.00 price objective on the stock. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total transaction of $94,248.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,012,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after buying an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,204,000 after buying an additional 5,179 shares in the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $199,998,000 after acquiring an additional 6,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $371,616,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of LPLA opened at $328.55 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $26.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.33, a PEG ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.50. LPL Financial has a 12 month low of $260.15 and a 12 month high of $403.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $296.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.49 by $0.11. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 31.26% and a net margin of 4.93%.The business had revenue of $4.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.98 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.15 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 34.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 23.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 4th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 21st were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.71%.

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.