LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Trading Down 2%

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) dropped 2% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $219.94 and last traded at $222.12. Approximately 34,554 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 750,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $226.57.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $260.00 to $252.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $290.00 price objective on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $230.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $277.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $252.90.

LPL Financial Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $231.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 1.87 and a current ratio of 1.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.91.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The financial services provider reported $3.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.59 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 60.49%. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.13 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 15.44 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 27th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 8th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total transaction of $88,260.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,475,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 1,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.37, for a total transaction of $429,174.10. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,710.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.03, for a total transaction of $88,260.59. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 145,884 shares in the company, valued at $36,475,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,848 shares of company stock valued at $3,770,797 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Employees Retirement System of Texas raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas now owns 218,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $51,808,000 after purchasing an additional 36,000 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 257.9% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp Et Al now owns 49,117 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,673,000 after buying an additional 35,392 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 981.6% during the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 4,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 11.1% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,430 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $815,000 after buying an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 21.9% during the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 3,433 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $816,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 92.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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, retirement and education savings plans, fixed income, and insurance, as well as alternative investments, such as non-traded real estate investment trusts and auction rate notes.