LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from twelve brokerages, with ten analysts recommending a buy and one a sell.
• The company reported $4.51 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $4.21, and posted a revenue growth of 30.8% year-over-year.
• LPL Financial recently announced a $0.30 quarterly dividend, representing a 0.3% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 8.21%.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $383.5833.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on LPLA shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. Citigroup downgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. TD Cowen downgraded LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $420.00 to $460.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA traded down $0.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $373.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 656,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,572. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 2.31 and a current ratio of 2.31. The company's 50-day moving average is $378.57 and its 200-day moving average is $355.27. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $403.58. The firm has a market cap of $29.91 billion, a PE ratio of 25.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.66.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 47.01% and a net margin of 7.91%. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.88 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 30.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $382.63, for a total transaction of $573,945.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,620 shares in the company, valued at $7,889,830.60. This trade represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ellevest Inc. purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the second quarter worth $340,000. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 135.3% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 546 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Lynwood Price Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lynwood Price Capital Management LP now owns 54,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $20,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 7.2% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 485,462 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $182,034,000 after acquiring an additional 32,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 54.3% during the second quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 2,999 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,055 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.