Analysts Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) PT at $429.07

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the seventeen analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $429.0667.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on LPLA shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on LPL Financial from $440.00 to $433.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 22nd. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $365.00 price target on the stock. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 80 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.48, for a total transaction of $28,198.40. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,502 shares in the company, valued at $1,939,344.96. This represents a 1.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $370.97, for a total value of $278,227.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 14,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,423,581.40. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 7,388 shares of company stock valued at $2,747,538 over the last ninety days. 0.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,762,581,000 after purchasing an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 4.7% during the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,379,598,000 after buying an additional 165,201 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 23.2% during the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 3,329,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,107,610,000 after buying an additional 627,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 15,960.1% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,628,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $874,493,000 after buying an additional 2,612,184 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA stock opened at $366.90 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $365.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $358.37. LPL Financial has a one year low of $262.83 and a one year high of $403.58. The company has a market capitalization of $29.37 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.57.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.35% and a return on equity of 36.80%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.16 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.