State of Michigan Retirement System Sells 1,100 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

State of Michigan Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 405,766 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $30,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 153,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,332,000 after buying an additional 9,130 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $615,000. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,614 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Auxano Advisors LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $201,000. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $487,000 after buying an additional 742 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $78.08 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Charles Schwab 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.