Gryphon Financial Partners LLC Reduces Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Gryphon Financial Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 28.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after buying an additional 265,708 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on SCHW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $78.08 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $139.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $78.44 and a 200-day moving average of $73.76.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect 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 was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.