Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund cut its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 3,141 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,041,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 511,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $31,891,000 after purchasing an additional 79,166 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $927,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 19,517 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,615 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,803,240 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $116,868,000 after purchasing an additional 55,535 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. The trade was a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $80.32 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.45. 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 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 33.44%.

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.