Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Grows Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 76.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 81,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $13,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 938,835 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $69,472,000 after purchasing an additional 187,260 shares in the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 15,601 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,429,817 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,861,000 after acquiring an additional 72,095 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 959,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $71,045,000 after purchasing an additional 411,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $2,536,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 7.7 %

SCHW stock opened at $69.07 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.73. The company has a market capitalization of $125.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm 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%. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.94.

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.