Quent Capital LLC Cuts Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Quent Capital LLC lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,862 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 140 shares during the quarter. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $86,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JMP Securities restated 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total transaction of $755,996.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. The trade was a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.0 %

SCHW opened at $82.37 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The company has a market capitalization of $146.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.11.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm 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 company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

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.