Assetmark Inc. Buys 229,832 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 133.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,874 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 229,832 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $29,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 1.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its position in Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Stablepoint Partners LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 12,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $76.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $139.42 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $78.49 and a 200 day moving average of $73.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 491,200 shares of company stock valued at $40,206,950 over the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.