LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Upgraded by TD Cowen to “Buy” Rating

TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has $413.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $277.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LPLA. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $316.50.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA opened at $327.69 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.64, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.22. 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 52-week low of $187.19 and a 52-week high of $334.83.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.74 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. 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 $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Key Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 360.7% in the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.