LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target Increased to $255.00 by Analysts at TD Cowen

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price objective upped by TD Cowen from $243.00 to $255.00 in a research report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LPLA has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of LPL Financial from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reissued a market outperform rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $283.30.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $215.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $267.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.92. The company has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $200.18 and a twelve month high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 54.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.94 EPS. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of LPLA. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,625,446,000 after purchasing an additional 48,439 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after buying an additional 738,509 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of 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 worth $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 2.5% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $256,472,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares during the period. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 19.8% in the first quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.