Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Lowers Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA cut its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 23.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 21,996,773 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,682,532 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,627,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $689,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,936,320. This represents a 14.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $77.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $140.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.67. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week 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.

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. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.