The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Purchased by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 618,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,954 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $45,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. State Street Corp increased its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,023,175,000 after buying an additional 414,949 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,945,614,000 after purchasing an additional 445,304 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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 moving average price of $78.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $74.11.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SCHW. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

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.