The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp reduced its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 125,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,359 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,270,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after buying an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $81.64 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $145.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $72.18. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 33.44%.

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.