The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Purchased by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP grew its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 11.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,290 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,013 shares during the period. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after purchasing an additional 414,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,614,000 after buying an additional 445,304 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in 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 valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,438,852 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $772,579,000 after acquiring an additional 60,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. 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 report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $78.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 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.