Vontobel Holding Ltd. Reduces Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. cut its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 41,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,007 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,069,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.7% during the fourth 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 period. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.1% during 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. Index Fund Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Michael S. Ryan Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Michael S. Ryan Inc. now owns 5,998 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $80.32 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $78.03 and a 200 day moving average of $72.40.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.56.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496 in the last 90 days. Company 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.