Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Lowers LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target to $315.00

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $326.00 to $315.00 in a research note released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also commented on LPLA. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded LPL Financial from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JMP Securities reiterated a market outperform rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $283.30.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA opened at $215.51 on Friday. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $200.18 and a fifty-two week high of $289.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $267.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 54.38% and a net margin of 8.91%. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 15.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is 9.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,546,624.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,141,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,625,446,000 after purchasing an additional 48,439 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $466,434,000 after purchasing an additional 738,509 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 970,749 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $256,472,000 after acquiring an additional 23,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% in the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.