American Trust Sells 12,792 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

American Trust lowered its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,338 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 12,792 shares during the quarter. American Trust's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,809,000 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 the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 200.0% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $221,070,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $86,845,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCHW. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday. Bank of America decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an "underperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $79.75.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded down $3.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $79.54. 14,077,078 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,017,958. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $59.67 and a 52 week high of $83.35. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $75.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.41.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total transaction of $576,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 554,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,543,202.45. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $4,521,259.40. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 60,619,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,396,116,784.92. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 127,968 shares of company stock valued at $9,419,271. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.