LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Reaches New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $334.83 and last traded at $331.00, with a volume of 81570 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $322.06.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LPLA. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a report on Thursday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on LPL Financial from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.75.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $302.23 and its 200 day moving average is $260.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market cap of $24.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $772,930,000 after purchasing an additional 650,675 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 9.9% in the second 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 raised its position in LPL Financial by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $333,581,000 after purchasing an additional 36,474 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its stake in 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 worth $333,684,000 after purchasing an additional 88,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 11.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 884,630 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $247,077,000 after purchasing an additional 90,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.