Citigroup Cuts LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Price Target to $285.00

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $325.00 to $285.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

LPLA has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on LPL Financial from $261.00 to $268.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on LPL Financial from $243.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 26th. 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 research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, LPL Financial has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $275.69.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPLA opened at $230.86 on Friday. LPL Financial has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $289.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $215.72 and its 200-day moving average is $250.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.88.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The financial services provider reported $3.88 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.91% and a return on equity of 52.14%. LPL Financial’s quarterly revenue was up 18.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.94 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 15.88 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.30 per share. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is 9.06%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,057,000 after acquiring an additional 11,703 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 533.8% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter worth $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in LPL Financial by 23.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 113,254 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,923,000 after purchasing an additional 21,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in LPL Financial by 5.4% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 394,091 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,070,000 after purchasing an additional 20,123 shares in the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.