Faithward Advisors LLC Sells 867 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Faithward Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. Faithward Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% during 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 last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $69.97 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.93. 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 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.28.

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.