Signature Wealth Management Group Purchases 666 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Signature Wealth Management Group increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,974 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 9,108 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.28 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $78.47 and a 200-day moving average of $74.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is 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.