Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 4,317 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 98,159 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,317 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $7,265,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fagan Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Fagan Associates Inc. now owns 69,628 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,153,000 after purchasing an additional 3,535 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 29,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,149,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Timber Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 117,923 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,727,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. now owns 11,122 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $823,000 after purchasing an additional 1,735 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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. Insiders have sold 490,120 shares of company stock valued at $40,127,472 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $80.50 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $143.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.95.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on SCHW. Barclays boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners lowered their price target 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. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.