Kestra Investment Management LLC Sells 2,770 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Kestra Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 88.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 346 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,770 shares during the quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $26,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $109,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 7,559.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $57,667,000 after purchasing an additional 878,163 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.8% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,839 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,415,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.5% in the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 19,232 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after buying an additional 830 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.9% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 9,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $596,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 490,120 shares of company stock worth $40,127,472. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $80.50 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.02. 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 $143.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.