First Merchants Corp Sells 18,359 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

First Merchants Corp cut its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 125,255 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 18,359 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 18,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $1.25 on Monday, hitting $80.32. 9,582,857 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,230,443. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $72.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 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 1.34%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $84.56.

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.