Private Ocean LLC Lowers Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Private Ocean LLC lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 24.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,206 shares during the quarter. Private Ocean LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Hall Laurie J Trustee purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc raised its position in Charles Schwab by 81.0% during the fourth quarter. Glass Jacobson Investment Advisors llc now owns 599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $88.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $76.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, June 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.56.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $73.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.81. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $48.66 and a 52-week high of $79.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.83, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.25%. The firm had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.84%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,172,690.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $724,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 71,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,172,690.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark A. Goldfarb sold 7,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.86, for a total value of $503,106.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,917 shares in the company, valued at $1,411,318.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 658,663 shares of company stock valued at $48,997,146. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.