17,423,916 Shares in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Acquired by Norges Bank

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 17,423,916 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.98% of Charles Schwab at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment 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, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $145.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.80, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.44 and its 200 day moving average is $75.14. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

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.