Brokerages Set LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target at $271.69

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $278.23.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. UBS Group boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday.

LPL Financial Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock opened at $248.09 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $219.60 and its 200-day moving average is $248.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 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 has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $289.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.66 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $2.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 52.14% and a net margin of 8.91%. LPL Financial’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 15.79 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $466,434,000 after acquiring an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 33.2% during 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. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 2,589,793 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 12,785.9% during the 4th quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 234,524 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $53,382,000 after acquiring an additional 232,704 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 774,175 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $216,227,000 after acquiring an additional 183,755 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.