LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Hold Rating

StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on LPLA. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $273.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.92.

LPL Financial Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $317.24 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $246.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $321.92. The stock has a market cap of $23.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.85.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 16.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th will be given a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 38.8% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 533.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,923,000 after purchasing an additional 21,481 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

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.