HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC cut its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 34,391 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,224 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,516,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,384 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after purchasing an additional 414,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,614,000 after buying an additional 445,304 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 509,701 shares of company stock worth $41,641,353. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $78.38 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’s fifty day moving average price is $79.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.21, a P/E/G 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.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend yield of 1.38%. 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.