Grimes & Company Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 8.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,076 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after purchasing an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 155.9% in the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 104,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,751,000 after purchasing an additional 63,463 shares during the period. Finally, Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 9.4% in the third quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,640,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,299,000 after purchasing an additional 140,643 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 41,466 shares of company stock worth $3,352,884 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.5 %

SCHW stock opened at $81.67 on Friday. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.35. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.88. The stock has a market cap of $145.34 billion, a PE ratio of 27.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5,190,822.51 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Cowen upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.83.

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.