The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Acquired by Principal Securities Inc.

Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 133,843 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 512,143 shares of company stock worth $41,917,493 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $80.32 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.03 and a 200-day moving average of $72.35. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities restated 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. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.56.

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.