LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

LPLA has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $277.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.92.

LPL Financial Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ LPLA opened at $280.81 on Thursday. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $291.67. 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 stock has a market cap of $20.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $234.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $248.48.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 52.08%. The business had revenue of $3.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.74 EPS. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 15.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 38.8% during the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,850 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,057,000 after buying an additional 11,703 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 533.8% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 5,153 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,340 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,648,000. Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in shares of 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 shares of LPL Financial by 5.4% during 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 during the last quarter. 95.66% of the stock is owned by 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.