LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Sells $564,645.00 in Stock

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $376.43, for a total transaction of $564,645.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 15,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,785,729.10. The trade was a 8.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Greg Gates also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, October 6th, Greg Gates sold 750 shares of LPL Financial stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.42, for a total value of $235,815.00.
• On Friday, September 5th, Greg Gates sold 1,500 shares of LPL Financial stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $338.21, for a total value of $507,315.00.

LPL Financial Price Performance

LPL Financial stock opened at $373.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $340.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $359.13. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $262.83 and a 12-month high of $403.58. The stock has a market cap of $29.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.63.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.49 by $0.71. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.08 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 36.80% and a net margin of 5.35%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 46.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 13th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 13th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 11.05%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,303,768 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,762,581,000 after buying an additional 317,002 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in LPL Financial by 4.7% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,679,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,379,598,000 after acquiring an additional 165,201 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 32.8% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,242,353 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,078,698,000 after acquiring an additional 800,171 shares during the period. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 77.3% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 2,701,709 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,013,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178,249 shares during the period. Finally, Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,681,617 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $877,264,000 after purchasing an additional 20,881 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial raised LPL Financial from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $490.00 to $462.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. JMP Securities set a $475.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citizens Jmp lifted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $455.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on LPL Financial from $356.00 to $410.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $429.00.

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.