LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) shares hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $361.70 and last traded at $361.41, with a volume of 97777 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $358.18.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $351.50.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $333.18 and a 200-day moving average of $271.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.87.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations 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 posted $3.74 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value 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. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 50.6% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,841 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,685,000 after purchasing an additional 5,320 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. bought a new position in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,633,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 15.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 25,418 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,913,000 after buying an additional 3,444 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 31,209 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $10,190,000 after buying an additional 1,383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 27.6% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.