Capital Investment Counsel Inc Sells 2,550 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc lessened its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,991 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,550 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 1.0% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forte Capital LLC ADV bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. Hardy Reed LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 13,225 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $979,000 after acquiring an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 533,712 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,500,000 after buying an additional 52,845 shares during the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 162,359 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,016,000 after buying an additional 718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 77,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,749,000 after buying an additional 19,020 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Redburn Partners reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $81.88 on Friday. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $72.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $145.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 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 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 ninety days, insiders sold 490,120 shares of company stock worth $40,127,472. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Company 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.