Community Financial Services Group LLC Sells 6,238 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Community Financial Services Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,781 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,238 shares during the period. Community Financial Services Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,424,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,931 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $83.51 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $77.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $148.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock worth $3,859,731 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

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.