First Foundation Advisors Has $18.09 Million Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

First Foundation Advisors lowered its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 244,370 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 38,460 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors' holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $18,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 230.1% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $688,000. Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 637,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,674,000 after purchasing an additional 43,308 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded up $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.75. The stock had a trading volume of 3,533,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,260,165. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month 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. The company's 50 day moving average price is $77.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.32. The firm has a market cap of $141.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.33.

About Charles Schwab

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.