Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates “Outperform” Rating for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA)

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reissued by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 price objective on the financial services provider’s stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.67% from the stock’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on LPLA. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $380.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $411.79.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $297.43 on Wednesday. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $266.62 and a twelve month high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.85 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $320.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $343.17.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the sale, the director directly owned 14,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,520,838.15. This represents a 12.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 4,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,990 shares of company stock worth $2,201,837. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in LPLA. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 912.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its position in LPL Financial by 550.0% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.