Franklin Resources Inc. Reduces Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,206,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,170 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.36% of Charles Schwab worth $1,791,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $9,516,075,000 after buying an additional 1,187,384 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after acquiring an additional 414,949 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,614,000 after purchasing an additional 445,304 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,894,000 after purchasing an additional 265,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.79 on Monday. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.45. The company has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. 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%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on SCHW. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.