Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Merit Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 20.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 11,002 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,927,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 90.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 6,087 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 926,717 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $63,757,000 after acquiring an additional 151,976 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 3,243 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $223,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Coombe Bender & Co LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Coombe Bender & Co LLC now owns 43,623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,001,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,627,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,281,584,000 after purchasing an additional 296,317 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 4,977 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $348,439.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,702,034.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 4,977 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total transaction of $348,439.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,702,034.46. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 71,226 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $4,628,977.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 61,251,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,980,704,959.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 514,459 shares of company stock worth $36,371,155. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James reduced 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. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE SCHW traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.04. 5,414,735 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,577,556. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market cap of $135.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $70.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.48. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $45.65 and a 52 week high of $76.47.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.84%.

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.