Federated Hermes Inc. Sells 178 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 178 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $688,000. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 637,957 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $47,674,000 after acquiring an additional 43,308 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $85.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $75.59 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $137.09 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $77.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.32.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.43%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

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.