The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Holdings Decreased by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 88.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,065 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 402,207 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $783,838.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 503,041 shares of company stock valued at $41,072,558. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.22.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $82.87. The stock had a trading volume of 5,722,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,356,932. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.58.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 32.73%.

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.