Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Cuts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lowered its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,408 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 164 shares during the quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $178,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its position in Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth about $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 490,120 shares of company stock valued at $40,127,472. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $80.50 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $77.98 and its 200 day moving average is $72.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.38 billion, a PE ratio of 26.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm 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 was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCHW. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price 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. UBS Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

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.