6,947 Shares in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Acquired by Naviter Wealth LLC

Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 6,947 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $74.58 on Friday. 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 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $135.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average is $78.50 and its 200 day moving average is $73.99.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company’s 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 owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SCHW. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.