Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 813,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 106,131 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $60,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% in the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $185,649,000. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its position in Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after buying an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.07 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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 quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

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.