Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 20.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,451 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,249 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Charles Schwab by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,963,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,750,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,823 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,230,657,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,327 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,886,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,193,000 after acquiring an additional 225,397 shares in the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.0% in the second quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 8,712,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $642,014,000 after acquiring an additional 251,485 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 8.9% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,305,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,445,000 after acquiring an additional 596,589 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.94.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.1 %

SCHW stock traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $71.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,503,918 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,060,867. The company has a market cap of $127.64 billion, a PE ratio of 30.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.73 and its 200-day moving average is $69.50. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $49.16 and a 12 month high of $79.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

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 return on equity of 17.52% and a net margin of 27.47%. 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 company earned $0.77 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 67,386 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.11, for a total value of $4,387,502.46. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 60,619,371 shares in the company, valued at $3,946,927,245.81. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 1,150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total value of $74,980.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 61,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,035,032.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 67,386 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.11, for a total transaction of $4,387,502.46. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 60,619,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,946,927,245.81. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,001 shares of company stock worth $12,512,592 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.