LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Raised to Buy at TD Cowen

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) was upgraded by stock analysts at TD Cowen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a $413.00 target price on the financial services provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $277.00. TD Cowen’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 25.94% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on LPLA. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $311.00 to $378.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $215.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on LPL Financial from $309.00 to $282.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.75.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA opened at $327.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.16, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 0.86. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $334.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $260.52.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.69 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.73% and a return on equity of 49.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.74 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 16.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.94, for a total value of $101,241.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of LPL Financial

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in LPL Financial in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Key Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in LPL Financial during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 360.7% during the second quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the period. 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.