Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Cuts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL reduced its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth $25,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $4,521,259.40. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 60,619,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,396,116,784.92. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total transaction of $576,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 554,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,543,202.45. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,968 shares of company stock valued at $9,419,271 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $3.35 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.50. 3,511,973 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,971,561. 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 12-month low of $59.67 and a 12-month high of $83.35. The company has a market cap of $141.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $75.55 and a 200 day moving average of $70.41.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.75.

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.