Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Positive Forecast for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price objective lifted by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $325.00 to $390.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $322.75.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $327.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $334.83. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $302.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $260.52. The firm has a market cap of $24.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. The trade was a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 24.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after purchasing an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 50.0% during the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 worth $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in LPL Financial by 82.0% in the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after acquiring an additional 223,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Azora Capital LP lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 52.2% in the 3rd quarter. Azora Capital LP now owns 643,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $149,708,000 after acquiring an additional 220,622 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.