LPL Financial LLC Has $93.14 Million Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,258,510 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 55,118 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $93,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after purchasing an additional 38,201 shares in the last quarter. United Bank grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.0% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,309 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $270,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.6% in the third quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,747 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.7% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 605,261 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $39,227,000 after buying an additional 21,699 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

SCHW opened at $80.81 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.11. The firm has a market cap of $146.55 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.