Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 3,700 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 80,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,700 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,950,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $77.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.99. The company has a market capitalization of $148.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. 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 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

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.