Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,009 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 287 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,845,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $83.62 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $83.94.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners lowered 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.50.

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.