Analysts Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Target Price at $381.08

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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $383.5833.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. TD Cowen lowered LPL Financial from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $406.00 to $403.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on LPL Financial from $425.00 to $435.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $490.00 price objective (up previously from $450.00) on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $402.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, July 9th.

Insider Activity at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 20,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,889,830.60. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 46.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 59,910 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $19,561,000 after purchasing an additional 19,126 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 8.9% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 195.1% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 3,341 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,093,000 after acquiring an additional 2,209 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 3.8% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 5,875 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,922,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in LPL Financial by 2,319.1% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,137 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company's stock.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA traded down $11.88 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $366.87. The stock had a trading volume of 314,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 819,856. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41, a current ratio of 3.22 and a quick ratio of 2.31. The company has a market capitalization of $29.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.66. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $378.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $355.56. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $193.22 and a 52 week high of $403.58.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The financial services provider reported $4.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.21 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $3.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 7.91% and a return on equity of 39.80%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 30.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

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

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.