The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by Xcel Wealth Management LLC

Xcel Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,195 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Xcel Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,087,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $79.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $141.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $73.54.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

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.