The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Holdings Decreased by Morningstar Investment Management LLC

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 47.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,314 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 7,404 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $615,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $82.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $77.98 and a 200-day moving average of $72.76. The firm has a market cap of $146.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. 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 quarterly 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 company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.