The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,370,445 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 303,456 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.36% of Charles Schwab worth $471,477,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 18.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 511,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,891,000 after buying an additional 79,166 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.9% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 11.1% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $927,000 after acquiring an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 42.4% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 19,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 5.2% in the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $80.32 on Monday. 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 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 $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.40.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, 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 position. 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

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.