Romano Brothers AND Company Trims Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Romano Brothers AND Company lessened its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 80.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,865 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 16,371 shares during the quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 20,822 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,847,000 after buying an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 6,263 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 25.4% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 13,064 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.5% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.6% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,239 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $70.03 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.65 and a fifty-two week high of $72.97. The company has a market capitalization of $124.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.57, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $67.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $62.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.33% and a net margin of 26.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 39.37%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup increased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $72.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $637,830.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 581,457 shares in the company, valued at $41,207,857.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total transaction of $1,047,976.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,331,688 shares in the company, valued at $3,921,548,130.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.87, for a total transaction of $637,830.00. Following the completion of 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769. Company 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.