CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,152,760 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 15,016 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $85,260,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,289,544,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $717,898,000 after buying an additional 3,974,940 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 742.0% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,451,000 after buying an additional 3,684,640 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 4th. JMP Securities reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $94.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.44.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $76.52 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.77 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.