Motco Sells 574 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Motco reduced its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 574 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,123,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $78.53 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.41.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for 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%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now 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. Insiders have sold 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.