LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The financial services provider reported $3.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.66 by $0.22, Briefing.com reports. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 55.22% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.94 earnings per share. LPL Financial’s revenue was up 18.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

LPL Financial Trading Down 7.5 %

NASDAQ:LPLA traded down $17.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $221.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,638,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 672,287. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.70, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $200.18 and a twelve month high of $289.88. The stock has a market cap of $16.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.90.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $322.00 to $334.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group raised their price target on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $326.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley upgraded LPL Financial from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $254.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on LPL Financial from $313.00 to $273.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $282.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, CEO Dan H. Arnold sold 5,677 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.31, for a total value of $1,574,288.87. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 142,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,546,624.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.