Greystone Financial Group LLC Has $1.12 Million Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Greystone Financial Group LLC lowered its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,063 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,092 shares during the quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $80.50 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $143.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.95.

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. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 490,120 shares of company stock valued at $40,127,472. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCHW. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

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.