UPDATE: JP Morgan Upgrades LPL Financial Holdings on Positive Trends in Asset Management

In a report published Monday, JPMorgan analyst Joseph Greff upgraded LPL FInancial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPLA) to Overweight from Neutral, with a price target of $60.00. According to the report, the upgrade is noted as a cheaper way to invest in retail engagement and better equity markets. “We like the trends in asset management, with retail investors reengaging in equity products and equity market levels having risen,” the report noted. “With asset manager valuations elevated to less attractive levels, we look to LPL as a way to invest in the positive trends driving asset management stocks, without the idiosyncratic risks impacting many of the asset management companies such as poor performance, poor mix and PM turnover. We see LPL as an earnings surprise investment, with near term upside potential coming from continued retail engagement combined with cost cutting, intermediate term potential from higher interest rates, and longer term potential from LPL manufacturing financial products.”LPLA closed Friday at $51.14.