Advisory Services Network LLC Decreases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Advisory Services Network LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 27.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,144 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 7,664 shares during the period. Advisory Services Network LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $320,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,087,041 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $80,452,000 after purchasing an additional 147,852 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 19.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,271,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $94,120,000 after purchasing an additional 205,662 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its position in Charles Schwab by 159.0% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 923,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $68,311,000 after buying an additional 566,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shelton Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 17.5% during the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 90,959 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,732,000 after buying an additional 13,542 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066. Insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley raised Charles Schwab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $85.44.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SCHW traded up $0.82 on Thursday, hitting $76.52. 19,270,618 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,294,656. The company has a market capitalization of $138.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company's 50-day moving average price is $77.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.32.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

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.