Cooke & Bieler LP Reduces Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 11.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,412,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 326,262 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.9% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.13% of Charles Schwab worth $188,836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,516,075,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187,384 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,901,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,279,742,000 after purchasing an additional 760,043 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,289,544,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,739,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,164,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,864,286 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,842,544 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,098,497,000 after purchasing an additional 430,250 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SCHW. UBS Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $97.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $117.00 target price (up from $83.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total value of $249,574.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,332,727.83. This trade represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 119,905 shares of company stock worth $10,530,833. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of SCHW opened at $91.26 on Thursday. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $93.35. The company has a market capitalization of $165.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 18.31% and a net margin of 31.71%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 32.73%.

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.