Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 501 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Advisory Alpha LLC reduced its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 501 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.83.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.7 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $81.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $145.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.41, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.75. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $83.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted 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. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,190,822.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. The trade was a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $755,996.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,057,774.01. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,823 shares of company stock valued at $2,171,194 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Company 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.