Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. Trims Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Basswood Capital Management L.L.C. lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 43.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 146,467 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 112,037 shares during the quarter. Basswood Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 126.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 65,976 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,773,000 after purchasing an additional 36,782 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 17.0% during the 2nd quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,981 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 25.3% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 5,790 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,169 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 302.2% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 32.8% during the second quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 4,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $82.76 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $72.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.97. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $59.61 and a 1-year high of $83.35. 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 has a market capitalization of $147.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $75.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total transaction of $576,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 554,929 shares in the company, valued at $35,543,202.45. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 60,619,371 shares in the company, valued at $4,396,116,784.92. This represents a 0.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,968 shares of company stock valued at $9,419,271 over the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.