The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Purchased by Hixon Zuercher LLC

Hixon Zuercher LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,001 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 567 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for about 1.4% of Hixon Zuercher LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 155.9% during the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 104,168 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,751,000 after buying an additional 63,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 1,640,157 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $106,299,000 after buying an additional 140,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Raymond James reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.11.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $83.59 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.84. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $148.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost 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 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 33.44%.

Charles Schwab 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.