The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Acquired by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC lifted its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 81.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,531 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,370 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $557,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,979,000. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $284,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $832,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $514,000. Finally, AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 257,730 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,080,000 after purchasing an additional 47,021 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $74.29 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $78.42 and a 200-day moving average of $74.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a PEG 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 quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.