Howe & Rusling Inc. Cuts Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Howe & Rusling Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 96,588 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,819 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,645,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 9,299 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $640,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Co. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 7,831 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. LCM Capital Management Inc bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $238,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC now owns 33,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,295,000 after acquiring an additional 4,972 shares during the period. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 114.6% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 18,385 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 9,817 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded up $1.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $75.00. The company had a trading volume of 5,197,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,662,203. The stock has a market cap of $133.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.01. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $45.65 and a one year high of $75.55. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.33. 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 Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on SCHW. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total transaction of $6,661,700.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,641,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,504,622.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 89,275 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.62, for a total transaction of $6,661,700.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 30,641,981 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,286,504,622.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total value of $587,610.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 585,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,198,371.53. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 514,459 shares of company stock valued at $36,371,155 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.