The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lowered its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 137,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 552 shares during the period. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $10,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Summitry LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 1,016,139 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $75,204,000 after purchasing an additional 10,673 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 720,329 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $53,312,000 after buying an additional 40,208 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 79,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,903,000 after buying an additional 3,750 shares during the period. Finally, Baxter Bros Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.0% during the 4th quarter. Baxter Bros Inc. now owns 57,618 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,264,000 after buying an additional 11,904 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $80.81 on Wednesday. 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 capitalization of $146.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.11. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCHW. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.