Haverford Trust Co Lowers Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Haverford Trust Co reduced its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 38.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,599 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,495 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $50,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Redburn Partners decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $80.81 on Wednesday. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $146.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.11.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 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.