United Community Bank Sells 270 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

United Community Bank lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,580 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 270 shares during the quarter. United Community Bank’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $709,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $74.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $135.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $78.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 1.45%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

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.