Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $448,000 Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 38.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,056 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,759 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was 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 491,200 shares of company stock worth $40,206,950 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $76.88 on Thursday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $78.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.85. The stock has a market cap of $139.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. 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 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

About Charles Schwab

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.