Handelsbanken Fonder AB Sells 20,679 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lowered its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 513,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 20,679 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $40,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of SCHW. WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Investors Research Corp grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 559 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $783,838.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total value of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,608 shares of company stock valued at $8,392,040. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $89.25.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $88.20. 1,627,663 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,371,255. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The firm's 50-day moving average is $82.58 and its 200-day moving average is $79.79. The stock has a market cap of $160.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.94. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $89.85.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 32.73%.

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.