Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. trimmed its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 733 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the third 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 during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth $185,649,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.9 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.80 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $141.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $78.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.48.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Profile

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.