Plato Investment Management Ltd Grows Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 806.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 23,898 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,262 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,360,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,771,985,000 after buying an additional 17,369,091 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $950,192,000. Boston Partners raised its position in Charles Schwab by 424.7% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,090 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $305,400,000 after purchasing an additional 3,602,830 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,691,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,284,000 after purchasing an additional 2,322,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,472,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $651,722,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,975 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE:SCHW traded down $1.48 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $63.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,773,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,025,089. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42. The company has a market capitalization of $113.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $48.66 and a 12 month high of $79.49.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.65% and a net margin of 26.30%. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Charles Schwab from $73.00 to $71.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Piper Sandler lowered Charles Schwab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.27.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.26 per share, with a total value of $1,656,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.05 per share, for a total transaction of $620,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now owns 144,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,949,347.40. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Walter W. Bettinger bought 25,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.26 per share, with a total value of $1,656,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $54,822,000.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 350,178 shares of company stock valued at $26,136,963 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.