LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was downgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

LPLA has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on LPL Financial from $289.00 to $271.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $290.00 to $215.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $268.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.69.

LPL Financial Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded down $2.78 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $229.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 433,774 shares, compared to its average volume of 725,199. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $216.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.12. LPL Financial has a 1-year low of $187.19 and a 1-year high of $289.88. The company has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial will post 15.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 0.7% in the fourth 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. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $723,329,000 after buying an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,434,000 after buying an additional 738,509 shares during the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,684,000 after buying an additional 88,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 33.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,103,655 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $291,586,000 after acquiring an additional 275,286 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.