LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Shares of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Saturday . The company traded as high as $376.11 and last traded at $373.98, with a volume of 581964 shares. The stock had previously closed at $372.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $271.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of LPL Financial from $390.00 to $420.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of LPL Financial from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $379.17.

LPL Financial Price Performance

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 cap of $28.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $343.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $283.83.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.01 by $0.24. LPL Financial had a net margin of 8.55% and a return on equity of 49.41%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that LPL Financial Holdings Inc. will post 19.14 earnings per share for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. LPL Financial’s payout ratio is presently 8.55%.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other news, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.14, for a total transaction of $10,507,633.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This represents a 67.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 305 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 3,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,301,204.80. This represents a 7.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LPLA. Norges Bank bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in LPL Financial in the fourth quarter valued at $295,982,000. Boston Partners grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 805,637 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 650,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dodge & Cox grew its position in LPL Financial by 2,922.0% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 470,109 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $153,495,000 after purchasing an additional 454,553 shares in the last quarter. 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.