LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Reaches New 1-Year High - What's Next?

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $347.74 and last traded at $344.54, with a volume of 30675 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $338.25.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on LPL Financial from $325.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $310.00 to $385.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on LPL Financial from $310.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $351.50.

LPL Financial Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $26.13 billion, a PE ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $326.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $267.46.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.47% and a net margin of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $3.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.74 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 16.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. LPL Financial's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the company's 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 transaction, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in LPL Financial by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,322,571 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $772,930,000 after acquiring an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $723,329,000 after purchasing an additional 233,242 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in LPL Financial by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,436,831 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $333,581,000 after buying an additional 36,474 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in LPL Financial by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,275,136 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $296,635,000 after buying an additional 276,166 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 88,635 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.