Exchange Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Exchange Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,023 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCHW. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $79.01 on Wednesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.