Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. Trims Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc. trimmed its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,846 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 763 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up 2.1% of Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Weaver C. Barksdale & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,211,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,216,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $185,649,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position 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 worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $80.81 on Wednesday. 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 $146.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.11.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Charles Schwab Company 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.