New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,104,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 268,626 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $155,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 have sold 502,859 shares of company stock worth $41,161,496. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $81.49 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.70. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company 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.