LPL Financial Holdings is Wednesday's pick for IBD 50 Growth Stocks To Watch as the financial services name is hovering near a buy point.
Shares are little changed Wednesday and are awaiting a catalyst for another base breakout attempt.
LPL Financial boasts that it's the largest independent broker-dealer in the U.S. It provides financial products and services to 29,500 financial advisers serving 7 million families.
It also offers brokerage services, matches clients with financial advisers, and provides market research and consulting services to its advisers. Its institutional business serves banks, credit unions and insurance providers.
LPL acquired two new clients in the first quarter. "We onboarded Prudential and Wintrust and are preparing to onboard First Horizon later this year," Matt Audette, president of LPL Financial, said in the company's earnings release in early May.
The IBD 50 and IBD Big Cap 20 name ranks No. 1 out of 36 stocks in the Finance-Investment Bank/Brokers group. The industry group holds the 35th spot out of the 197 that Investor's Business Daily tracks.
Stocks To Buy And Watch: Top IPOs, Big And Small Caps, Growth Stocks
LPL Financial Struggles To Break Out
LPL Financial stock bolted higher after the financial company beat first-quarter earnings and sales estimates late May 8.
Shares broke out of an early-stage consolidation pattern with a 384.04 buy point on May 13, according to MarketSurge chart analysis. The financial services provider hit an all-time high on the same day, but the stock didn't progress and has hovered around and below the entry point since.
Its IBD Timeliness Rating of A indicates potential positive relative price performance over the next 12 months.
Its Accumulation/Distribution Rating of A- indicates fairly heavy institutional buying over the last 13 weeks. Mutual funds bolstered their positions in March, with 1,475 funds owning the financial services stock, up from 1,381 in December.
And its 1.6 up/down volume ratio shows positive demand over the last 50 days.
Financial Services Leader's Assets Dip
The financial company reported its April monthly activity on May 22. Its April total advisory and brokerage assets fell 0.4% to $1.79 trillion vs. March. Further, April total client cash balances decreased $1.3 billion to $51.8 billion from the prior month.
LPL Financial's first-quarter profit growth accelerated to 22% from 11% and 21% in the prior two quarters, showing great improvement from the prior three declining quarters.
LPL's two most recent quarters showed sales growth in the 30%-33% range. But revenue forecasts call for a 29% rise in the second quarter, with sales growth sliding to 14% over the following four quarters.
Analysts recently raised their full-year 2025 earnings forecasts to $19.15 per share, or 16% growth. Projections for 2026 now show $22.47 EPS, or a 17% rise.
Lastly, LPL stock holds a best-possible 99 Composite Rating and a strong 96 Earnings Per Share Rating.
Follow Kimberley Koenig for more stock market news on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @IBD_KKoenig.
