Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Stock Price

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) had its price objective cut by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $405.00 to $342.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the financial services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.82% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on LPLA. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered shares of LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised LPL Financial from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LPL Financial currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $369.83.

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LPL Financial Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded up $9.89 on Tuesday, hitting $311.42. 789,293 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 822,656. LPL Financial has a one year low of $187.19 and a one year high of $384.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.16 and a quick ratio of 2.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $340.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $319.63.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a return on equity of 49.41% and a net margin of 8.55%. On average, research analysts expect that LPL Financial will post 19.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of LPL Financial stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total value of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,075 shares in the company, valued at $1,490,838.75. The trade was a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 4,588 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $360.07, for a total transaction of $1,652,001.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,538 shares in the company, valued at $5,954,837.66. This represents a 21.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On LPL Financial

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial during the 4th quarter worth $295,982,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 26.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,905,541 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,278,454,000 after buying an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in LPL Financial by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,050,529 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $996,032,000 after acquiring an additional 522,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $153,946,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company's stock.

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.