Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Sells 231,904 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 56.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 182,349 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 231,904 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $13,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after purchasing an additional 414,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,945,614,000 after buying an additional 445,304 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.1 %

SCHW stock traded down $0.11 on Friday, reaching $78.47. 11,842,111 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,847,410. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.63. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The company has a market cap of $142.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

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.