Bard Financial Services Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Bard Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 31,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Darsana Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 200.0% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $221,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,845,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 7,559.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 889,779 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,667,000 after acquiring an additional 878,163 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on SCHW. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Barclays upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Monday. Raymond James lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $78.81.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $82.49 on Wednesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $59.67 and a 1 year high of $83.35. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $74.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.16. The company has a market cap of $146.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total value of $4,521,259.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 60,619,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,396,116,784.92. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 29,800 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.16, for a total value of $2,150,368.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 551,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,783,900.64. This trade represents a 5.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,968 shares of company stock worth $9,419,271 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Company 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.