Bellwether Advisors LLC Acquires New Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Bellwether Advisors LLC bought a new position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,770 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $353,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after buying an additional 38,201 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 11.2% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 36,229 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637 shares during the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,988 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at $9,211,000. Finally, Sfmg LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 58,542 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,794,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $79.96 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $145.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week 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. The company’s 50 day moving average is $76.82 and its 200 day moving average is $77.10.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on SCHW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.22.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $266,741.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 172,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,784,750.12. This trade represents a 2.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade 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 493,482 shares of company stock worth $40,288,720 over the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.