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 financial institutions in the United States. Its brokerage offerings include variable and fixed annuities, mutual funds, equities, retirement and education savings plans, fixed income, and insurance, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and auction rate notes. The company also provides advisory platforms that provide access to mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, certain option strategies, unit investment trusts, and institutional money managers and no-load multi-manager variable annuities. In addition, it offers money market programs; and retirement solutions for commission-and fee-based services that allow advisors to provide brokerage services, consultation, and advice to retirement plan sponsors. Further, the company provides other services comprising tools and services that enable advisors to maintain and grow their practices; trust, investment management oversight, and custodial services to trusts for estates and families, as well as insurance brokerage general agency services; and technology products, such as proposal generation, investment analytics, and portfolio modeling. The company was formerly known as LPL Investment Holdings Inc. and changed its name to LPL Financial Holdings Inc. in June 2012. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. was founded in 1989 and is based in San Diego, California.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several research analysts have weighed in on LPLA shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 4th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $212.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on LPL Financial from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, May 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on LPL Financial from $241.00 to $239.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.83.
LPL Financial Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA traded up $3.10 on Tuesday, hitting $229.13. The company had a trading volume of 677,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 806,872. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The company has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.02, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.96. LPL Financial has a 52-week low of $137.59 and a 52-week high of $232.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $195.47 and a 200 day moving average of $188.10.
LPL Financial Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.16%.
Insider Activity
In related news, Director Richard Steinmeier sold 7,355 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.64, for a total transaction of $1,593,387.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,078 shares in the company, valued at $5,216,257.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard Steinmeier sold 7,355 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.64, for a total value of $1,593,387.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,078 shares in the company, valued at $5,216,257.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 39,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.33, for a total value of $8,206,024.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,608 shares in the company, valued at $34,201,340.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,878 shares of company stock valued at $13,708,035 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.
