Lountzis Asset Management LLC Sells 133 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Lountzis Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up 0.3% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $675,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SCHW. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Index Fund Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.7 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $82.03 on Thursday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.98 and a 200 day moving average of $72.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 502,859 shares of company stock worth $41,161,496 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCHW. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

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.