LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, an increase of 58.4% from the February 13th total of 757,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 671,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

LPL Financial Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:LPLA traded up $2.82 on Monday, reaching $324.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 157,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 775,729. The firm has a market cap of $24.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $384.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $352.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.26.

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

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on LPLA shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $435.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research note on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen upgraded LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $389.00 to $414.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup lifted 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $379.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. The trade was a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

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.