Focus Partners Wealth Decreases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Focus Partners Wealth reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 114,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 69,094 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $8,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,455,000. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 637,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $47,674,000 after buying an additional 43,308 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SCHW. Barclays reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.61.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $86.21 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $156.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $87.00. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.08.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.73%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $783,838.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,412 shares of company stock worth $3,014,797. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.