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

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a growth of 58.4% from the February 13th total of 757,600 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 671,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at LPL Financial

In other LPL Financial news, Director Marc Eliot Cohen sold 1,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $365.85, for a total transaction of $402,435.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,490,838.75. This represents a 21.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Matthew J. Audette sold 28,777 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 13,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,988,907.82. This trade represents a 67.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,465 shares of company stock worth $12,562,070 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of LPLA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at about $305,747,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in LPL Financial during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $295,982,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 26.0% during 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 during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in LPL Financial by 24.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $996,032,000 after purchasing an additional 522,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

LPL Financial Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:LPLA traded up $13.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $321.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,109,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 789,303. LPL Financial has a fifty-two week low of $187.19 and a fifty-two week high of $384.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $352.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.67. The stock has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a quick ratio of 2.16, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.60.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $4.25 earnings per share 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, analysts anticipate that LPL Financial will post 19.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 11th will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 11th. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on LPLA. TD Cowen raised shares of LPL Financial from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $277.00 to $413.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. UBS Group lifted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $379.00 to $413.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of LPL Financial from $397.00 to $405.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $379.17.

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.