Insider Selling: LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells 2,212 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Marc Eliot Cohen, a director of LPL Financial, sold 2,212 shares on March 9 at an average of $308.75 for about $682,955 and sold an additional 1,088 shares on March 10 at $309.72 (~$336,975), reducing his stake to 5,488 shares (a 28.73% decrease).
• The company reported a Q4 EPS beat (EPS $5.23 vs. $4.82 estimate) with revenue of $4.93 billion, and announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.20, yield 0.4%, ex-dividend March 10, payable March 24).
• LPL shares were trading down to $302.96 (about a 1.7% drop) with a $24.26 billion market cap, and analysts have a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $428.71.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 2,212 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.75, for a total value of $682,955.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 5,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,694,420. This represents a 28.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Marc Eliot Cohen also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, March 10th, Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of LPL Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36.

LPL Financial Trading Down 1.7%

LPL Financial stock traded down $5.34 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $302.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 721,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 966,220. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.59. The stock's fifty day moving average is $349.32 and its 200 day moving average is $350.97. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $262.83 and a 1-year high of $403.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a current ratio of 2.45.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.25 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 10th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 10.90%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 912.5% during the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 81 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 3,650.0% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 75 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in LPL Financial by 550.0% in the fourth quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 78 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research set a $478.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $399.00 to $378.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays cut their target price on LPL Financial from $444.00 to $434.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group set a $500.00 price target on LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $428.71.

LPL Financial Company Profile

LPL Financial NASDAQ: LPLA is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm's product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.

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