Lazard Asset Management LLC Sells 1,464,107 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Lazard Asset Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,455,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,464,107 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $551,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE SCHW opened at $84.53 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $77.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $87.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.74 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.28%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total value of $783,838.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 503,041 shares of company stock valued at $41,072,558. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.