Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Acquires 120,983 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 622.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 140,415 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 120,983 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,391,016 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,422,963,000 after purchasing an additional 398,367 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 26.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,634,700,000 after buying an additional 6,195,934 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $1,413,244,000 after purchasing an additional 391,238 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,853,005,000 after purchasing an additional 8,563,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,325,555,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total value of $637,830.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 581,457 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,207,857.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on SCHW. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, December 1st. They issued a "sell" rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $71.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. StockNews.com raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Citigroup cut Charles Schwab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $71.12.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $72.34. The stock had a trading volume of 6,865,003 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,884,380. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.34. The company has a market cap of $128.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.00. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $45.65 and a 52-week high of $72.94.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 26.90%. Charles Schwab's revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.37%.

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.