Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 527,421 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,938 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $39,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $745,000. Point72 Europe London LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $6,787,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 255.8% in the fourth quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 380,285 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $28,145,000 after buying an additional 273,390 shares in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $237,280,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 320,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,709,000 after buying an additional 33,230 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $783,838.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $266,741.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 172,162 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,784,750.12. The trade was a 2.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,412 shares of company stock valued at $3,014,797. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Partners cut their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.61.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.9%

Charles Schwab stock opened at $87.02 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $157.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $87.29. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $78.14.

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

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

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.