LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Short Interest Update

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 907,300 shares, a decrease of 19.7% from the October 15th total of 1,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 846,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

LPL Financial Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ LPLA traded down $1.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $313.04. The stock had a trading volume of 154,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 741,605. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 2.16. LPL Financial has a twelve month low of $187.19 and a twelve month high of $322.03. The firm has a market cap of $23.44 billion, a PE ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a 50 day moving average of $250.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $251.18.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. LPL Financial's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.74 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 16.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 14th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.02%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.4% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 9.9% during the 2nd 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 buying an additional 233,242 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of LPL Financial by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,765,230 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $466,434,000 after buying an additional 738,509 shares in the last quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC grew its stake in LPL Financial by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 1,194,715 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $333,684,000 after acquiring an additional 88,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in LPL Financial by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 927,369 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $245,011,000 after acquiring an additional 153,072 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LPLA. Citigroup increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $285.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded LPL Financial from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $235.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their target price 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, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of LPL Financial in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $286.92.

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.