The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by Skylands Capital LLC

Skylands Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 17.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 8,250 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,638,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,634,700,000 after buying an additional 6,195,934 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,107,176 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $390,234,000 after purchasing an additional 4,624,302 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,300,286 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $290,986,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038,517 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 31.1% during the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,247,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $397,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,717,137 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 3,123.9% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,360,400 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $74,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,318,203 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $71.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 24,520 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $1,771,079.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 24,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $1,771,079.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total transaction of $413,870.31. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,414.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 394,648 shares of company stock worth $27,400,905. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.21 on Monday, hitting $74.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,825,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,669,574. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $45.65 and a 12 month high of $75.55. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $69.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $132.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

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.