LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Rating Increased to Overweight at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $397.00 price target on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $288.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on LPLA. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $390.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com upgraded LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on LPL Financial from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $345.17.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $335.64 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $319.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.48. LPL Financial has a 52 week low of $187.19 and a 52 week high of $344.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.74 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.02%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after buying an additional 650,675 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 233,242 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $333,581,000 after purchasing an additional 36,474 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after purchasing an additional 276,166 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC grew its position in shares of LPL Financial by 8.0% during the second quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,684,000 after purchasing an additional 88,635 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.