The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Holdings Decreased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,033,956 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 896,385 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $224,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $78.47 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.79. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The company has a market capitalization of $142.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.