LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Rating Increased to Overweight at Wells Fargo & Company

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $285.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $235.00. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 17.11% from the company’s previous close.

LPLA has been the topic of several other reports. StockNews.com cut shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $278.23.

LPL Financial Price Performance

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $243.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.88. LPL Financial has a 1 year low of $187.19 and a 1 year high of $289.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $218.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.14% and a net margin of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 15.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 533.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in LPL Financial during the first quarter worth about $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,923,000 after buying an additional 21,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,070,000 after buying an additional 20,123 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Company Profile

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.