Smithfield Trust Co Reduces Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Smithfield Trust Co lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 14.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,381 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 762 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,230,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,327 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 21.2% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,395,138 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $390,856,000 after acquiring an additional 944,048 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.18.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $80.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $70.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $55.42 and a 1 year high of $82.50. The stock has a market cap of $143.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 29,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.16, for a total transaction of $2,150,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 551,329 shares in the company, valued at $39,783,900.64. The trade was a 5.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $4,521,259.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 60,619,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,396,116,784.92. The trade was a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 112,929 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,624. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

About Charles Schwab

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.