Lountzis Asset Management LLC Sells 133 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Lountzis Asset Management LLC decreased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,116 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 133 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up 0.3% of Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Lountzis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $675,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,023,175,000 after acquiring an additional 414,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the third 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 grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,189,558 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,308,485,000 after acquiring an additional 493,264 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $82.03 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $77.98 and a 200 day moving average of $72.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted 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 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.