Franklin Resources Inc. Has $1.79 Billion Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 24,206,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 55,170 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,791,491,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.3 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.79 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $79.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

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.