The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Sold by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,002 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $76.04. The company had a trading volume of 5,414,735 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,577,556. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $45.65 and a 1 year high of $76.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $70.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total transaction of $413,870.31. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,573,414.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 59,906 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.78, for a total value of $4,479,770.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,038,701 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,564,474,060.78. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total value of $413,870.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,573,414.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 514,459 shares of company stock valued at $36,371,155. Corporate 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.