Alliancebernstein L.P. Reduces Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,760,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 642,412 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,092,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $77.79 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.55 and a 200 day moving average of $75.45. 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 has a market capitalization of $141.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

About Charles Schwab

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.