The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp reduced its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 125,255 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 18,359 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total transaction of $755,996.12. Following the sale, the director now owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,731. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $81.64 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $145.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

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.