Balboa Wealth Partners Sells 4,882 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Balboa Wealth Partners decreased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 37.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,121 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 4,882 shares during the period. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,023,175,000 after buying an additional 414,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,614,000 after buying an additional 445,304 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 worth $1,858,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after purchasing an additional 265,708 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 2.5 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $74.29 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $134.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $74.16.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released 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 company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.