The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Holdings Lessened by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 387,951 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 23,261 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $28,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after purchasing an additional 414,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,614,000 after purchasing an additional 445,304 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in 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 last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after buying an additional 265,708 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.28 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.32. The company has a market cap of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target 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, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 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.