LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $286.92.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on LPLA. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Bank of America upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Boston Partners increased its position in LPL Financial by 71.9% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after acquiring an additional 738,509 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in LPL Financial by 33.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its position in LPL Financial by 9.9% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in LPL Financial by 31.1% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 774,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $216,227,000 after acquiring an additional 183,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. increased its position in LPL Financial by 159.5% during the first quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. now owns 298,178 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $78,779,000 after acquiring an additional 183,290 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $280.81 on Friday. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $291.67. The company has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $234.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 52.08%. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 15.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides an integrated platform of brokerage and investment advisory services to independent financial advisors and financial advisors at enterprises in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, fixed income, alternative investments, retirement and 529 education savings plans, and insurance.