KBC Group NV Acquires 1,392,255 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

KBC Group NV increased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 186.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $158,236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 2nd quarter worth $303,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 482,349 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $35,544,000 after buying an additional 15,166 shares in the last quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth about $209,000. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 8,638 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 80,579 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,938,000 after acquiring an additional 8,838 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $81.67 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $83.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $77.81 and a 200 day moving average of $70.86. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $145.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.31, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5,190,822.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. The trade was a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s 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. Insiders sold a total of 41,466 shares of company stock valued at $3,352,884 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Redburn Partners dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.83.

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.