Whipplewood Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 623 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 128,180 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,307,000 after buying an additional 5,798 shares in the last quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 16,603 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 27,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 751 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 23,657 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 313 shares during the period. Finally, Biechele Royce Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. Biechele Royce Advisors now owns 210,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,644,000 after purchasing an additional 19,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $79.71 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.54. The stock has a market cap of $141.99 billion, a PE ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

About Charles Schwab

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.