LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen Sells 1,088 Shares

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total transaction of $336,975.36. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,362,768. This trade represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Marc Eliot Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 9th, Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total transaction of $682,955.00.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.9%

LPLA traded down $2.82 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $300.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 56,344 shares, compared to its average volume of 946,284. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $262.83 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $348.24 and its 200-day moving average is $350.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.08% and a return on equity of 34.19%. The business’s revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio is 10.90%.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its stake in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in LPL Financial by 116.2% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 80 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on LPLA shares. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $426.00 to $440.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on LPL Financial from $462.00 to $447.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.