LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) Short Interest Down 40.4% in July

LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA) saw a significant drop in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 2,894,304 shares, a drop of 40.4% from the July 15th total of 4,852,571 shares. Currently, 3.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 720,682 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

LPLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Barclays raised their price target on LPL Financial from $394.00 to $401.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on LPL Financial from $330.00 to $372.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $454.00 target price on shares of LPL Financial in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on LPL Financial from $365.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $406.69.

LPL Financial Price Performance

Shares of LPL Financial stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $368.73. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 366,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,220. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $322.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $315.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 2.39. The stock has a market cap of $29.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.62 and a beta of 0.48. LPL Financial has a one year low of $260.15 and a one year high of $400.16.

LPL Financial (NASDAQ:LPLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The financial services provider reported $5.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.39 by $0.45. LPL Financial had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 32.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 35.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that LPL Financial will post 24.09 EPS for the current year.

LPL Financial Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. LPL Financial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other LPL Financial news, Director Aneri Jambusaria sold 308 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.00, for a total value of $94,248.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,962,990. The trade was a 4.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Matthew Enyedi sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.72, for a total transaction of $352,720.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,121 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,628,039.12. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On LPL Financial

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in LPL Financial by 42.7% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,525 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,153,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of LPL Financial by 0.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 209,126 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $68,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,089 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of LPL Financial in the 1st quarter worth about $1,636,000. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of LPL Financial by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 4,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 473 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of LPL Financial during the 1st quarter worth about $121,000. Institutional investors own 95.66% of the company’s stock.

About LPL Financial

LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) is a U.S.-focused financial services firm that provides brokerage, custodial and advisory platforms to independent financial advisors, registered investment advisers and institutions. Operating primarily as an independent broker-dealer and custodian, the company supports a network of advisors with the operational, compliance and clearing infrastructure needed to manage client accounts and deliver investment advice outside of traditional wirehouse models.

The firm’s product and service offerings include trade execution and clearing, custody services, retirement plan services, model portfolio and advisory platforms, wealth management technology, investment research and product access across equities, fixed income, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and insurance and annuity solutions.