LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Matthew Enyedi Sells 1,000 Shares

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total value of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 13,121 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

LPLA traded down $6.18 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $354.17. 1,295,122 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 964,588. The company’s 50-day moving average is $303.25 and its 200 day moving average is $315.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.33 billion, a PE ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $260.15 and a 52 week high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.80%. The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $4.51 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 23.58 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.57%.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Egerton Capital UK LLP purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $91,012,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in LPL Financial by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,719,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,328,475,000 after purchasing an additional 477,094 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 77,992 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $28,204,000 after purchasing an additional 5,179 shares during the last quarter. Markel Group Inc. lifted its position in LPL Financial by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 559,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $199,998,000 after purchasing an additional 6,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter worth $371,616,000. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LPLA has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on LPL Financial from $464.00 to $383.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $408.00 to $428.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $500.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Friday, July 24th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $408.54.

About LPL Financial

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.