Primecap Management Co. CA Increases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 310.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,216,000 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA owned about 0.24% of Charles Schwab worth $314,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.9 %

SCHW opened at $77.80 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $141.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.54 and a 200 day moving average of $74.48.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners decreased their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab 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.