Smith Moore & CO. Sells 1,001 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Smith Moore & CO. lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,695 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,001 shares during the quarter. Smith Moore & CO.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth $1,289,544,000. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 91.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,217,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,962,878 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $189,791,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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 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 note on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.94.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $69.07 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. 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 capitalization of $125.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.73.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

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.