Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Cuts Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 21.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,910,382 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 509,504 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $141,568,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position 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 fourth quarter worth $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.80 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $141.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.48.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Charles Schwab 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.