LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 9,965 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC decreased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,530 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 9,965 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up 1.2% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $7,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $1,325,555,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after acquiring an additional 8,563,389 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 91,051.8% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,365,193 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $446,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,359,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,107,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,234,000 after buying an additional 4,624,302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Charles Schwab from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $77.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.12.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $72.10. The stock had a trading volume of 3,181,292 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,759,620. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $45.65 and a 52 week high of $72.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $65.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.87 billion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.00.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 26.90%. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $637,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 581,457 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $637,830.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 581,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab 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.