West Coast Financial LLC Sells 186 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

West Coast Financial LLC lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,049 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 186 shares during the period. West Coast Financial LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. One Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth approximately $667,000. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 8,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $619,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth $260,000. Plancorp LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the second quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 311.8% in the second quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 17,858 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after buying an additional 13,521 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $73.50 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.58. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $59.67 and a 12 month high of $83.35. The company has a market cap of $130.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.13 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,823 shares of company stock worth $2,171,194 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.63.

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.