LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Given New $379.00 Price Target at Barclays

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) had its price target increased by Barclays from $378.00 to $379.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the financial services provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on LPLA. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $288.00 to $397.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $303.00 to $309.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $351.50.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of LPLA stock opened at $338.25 on Monday. LPL Financial has a 12-month low of $187.19 and a 12-month high of $344.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $326.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.91.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.69 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 16.07 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In related news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total transaction of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,301,204.80. This trade represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 24.4% during the 3rd 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in LPL Financial by 27.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $296,635,000 after acquiring an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP lifted its stake in LPL Financial by 50.0% in the third quarter. Southpoint Capital Advisors LP now owns 750,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $174,472,000 after acquiring an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $723,329,000 after acquiring an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. increased its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 82.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 497,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $115,635,000 after purchasing an additional 223,931 shares during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.