OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires New Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 27,683 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,979,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after buying an additional 38,201 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 71.9% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,026 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 5,029 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.4% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 13,493 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $874,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $1,858,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $74.58 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.05. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $135.25 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.45%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.