LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $336.46, but opened at $364.54. LPL Financial shares last traded at $336.84, with a volume of 112,917 shares trading hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $435.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $353.43 and a 200-day moving average of $298.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.87.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total value of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares in the company, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,770 shares of company stock valued at $12,663,312 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $271,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $6,821,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its position in shares of LPL Financial by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 231,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,587,000 after purchasing an additional 63,100 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in LPL Financial by 143.9% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 17,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,681,000 after buying an additional 10,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $450,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.