Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Reiterates "Outperform" Rating for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA)

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed an "Outperform" rating on LPL Financial with a $350 price target, implying about a 17.7% upside from the current price.
• LPL beat Q4 expectations, reporting $5.23 EPS vs. $4.82 expected and revenue of $4.93 billion (up 8.4% year-over-year), with a return on equity of 34.19%.
• The analyst consensus is a "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $411.79 (one Strong Buy, ten Buy, four Hold among surveyed analysts).

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $350.00 target price on the financial services provider's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods' price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.67% from the company's current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on LPLA. Citigroup reissued a "market outperform" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $433.00 to $439.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $411.79.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPLA opened at $297.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.56. LPL Financial has a 1 year low of $266.62 and a 1 year high of $403.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 2.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $320.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $343.17.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The financial services provider reported $5.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.41. The firm had revenue of $4.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.90 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 34.19% and a net margin of 5.08%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.25 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 2,109 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $320.15, for a total value of $675,196.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 14,121 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,520,838.15. The trade was a 12.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,088 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.72, for a total value of $336,975.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 4,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,362,768. This represents a 19.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,990 shares of company stock valued at $2,201,837 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 5,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,860,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the last quarter. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 32,951 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,769,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth about $50,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Tobam now owns 15,505 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $5,538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

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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