Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 75.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,921 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 24,705 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $586,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $275,000. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 5,794 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $406,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Leigh Baldwin & CO. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $293,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 47,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $4,201,850.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $266,741.92. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 172,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,784,750.12. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 104,735 shares of company stock worth $8,867,382 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.35. 11,834,362 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,402,122. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $89.85. The firm's 50 day moving average is $80.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.37. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on SCHW. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.63.

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.