The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Purchased by BayBridge Capital Group LLC

BayBridge Capital Group LLC raised its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,541 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 309 shares during the period. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 1.0% of BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. BayBridge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,446,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 230.1% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after buying an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,391,674.38. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $83.18 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $148.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $77.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.66. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.50.

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.