Alta Advisers Ltd Purchases 970 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Alta Advisers Ltd grew its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 24.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,970 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $368,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total transaction of $261,713.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,152.32. The trade was a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $75.13 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.74. 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 firm has a market cap of $136.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.56.

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.