KLCM Advisors Inc. Sells 200 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

KLCM Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 186.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,845,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. The trade was a 17.73 % 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 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.32 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.40.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCHW. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.