Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 5,946 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,053 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 5,946 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $1.68 during trading on Monday, reaching $80.07. 7,542,389 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,445,041. 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 has a market capitalization of $145.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.87.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

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.