Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Reduces Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. decreased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 142,045 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up about 1.4% of Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $10,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 12,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $347,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Index Fund Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. now owns 8,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,731 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $77.99 and a 200-day moving average of $71.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.56.

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.