Parthenon LLC Sells 365 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Parthenon LLC reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,165 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up about 1.3% of Parthenon LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $10,448,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during 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 period. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 12,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Index Fund Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $82.03 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $146.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $77.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $72.76.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company 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 business posted $0.68 EPS. Analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,796,497.64. This trade represents a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock worth $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.