Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Trims Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,288 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two equities 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $755,996.12. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,391,674.38. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $82.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.08. The company has a market cap of $147.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $83.84.

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, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

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.