HST Ventures LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

HST Ventures LLC trimmed its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 53.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,652 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 165,724 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 3.5% of HST Ventures LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. HST Ventures LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,952,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,391,016 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,422,963,000 after purchasing an additional 398,367 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Charles Schwab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 30,994,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,015 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,050,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,413,244,000 after acquiring an additional 391,238 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after acquiring an additional 8,563,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,627,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,584,000 after acquiring an additional 296,317 shares during the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.7 %

Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $67.04. The stock had a trading volume of 11,823,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,917,169. The company has a market capitalization of $118.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $60.63. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $45.65 and a one year high of $71.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.90% and a return on equity of 21.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.07 EPS. On average, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total value of $1,047,976.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,331,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,921,548,130.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 202,607 shares of company stock valued at $13,214,499 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $64.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 15th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, December 1st. They set a “sell” rating and a $52.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $77.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.92.

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.