Independent Advisor Alliance Decreases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 14.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,861 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its position 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 buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. 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. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $74.29 on Thursday. 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 cap of $134.72 billion, a PE ratio of 24.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.