Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP decreased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,855,064 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 23,897 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.27% of Charles Schwab worth $359,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 493,482 shares of company stock worth $40,288,720 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of SCHW traded up $1.51 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $79.36. The company had a trading volume of 8,422,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,113,384. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.75. 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 quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 32.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upgraded Charles Schwab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.78.

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.