Empirical Finance LLC Sells 571 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 571 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,653,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 230.1% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 9,108 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.50.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $83.18 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.78. The stock has a market cap of $148.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date 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%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,796,497.64. The trade was a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.