Lazard Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,455,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,464,107 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.42% of Charles Schwab worth $551,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,516,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,384 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,901,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,279,742,000 after acquiring an additional 760,043 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,739,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,164,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,286 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of SCHW opened at $84.53 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $153.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $87.84.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $266,741.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,784,750.12. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 503,041 shares of company stock valued at $41,072,558 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.