Sterling Investment Management LLC Sells 14,433 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Sterling Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 14,433 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.6% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,164,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,391,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,422,963,000 after purchasing an additional 398,367 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,050,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,413,244,000 after acquiring an additional 391,238 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,853,005,000 after acquiring an additional 8,563,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $1,325,555,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $87.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $77.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total value of $1,047,976.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 61,331,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,921,548,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 71,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $4,628,977.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 61,251,038 shares in the company, valued at $3,980,704,959.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total value of $1,047,976.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 61,331,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,921,548,130.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,584 shares of company stock worth $14,200,769 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 2.0 %

SCHW opened at $72.41 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $65.43 and its 200-day moving average is $61.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.00. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $45.65 and a 52-week high of $72.94.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.37%.

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.