Spartan Planning & Wealth Management Purchases Shares of 3,066 The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,066 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 200.0% in the second quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,070,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $1.48 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.00. The company had a trading volume of 6,474,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,045,160. The stock has a market cap of $129.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $59.67 and a 12-month high of $83.35. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $77.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.62.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 29,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.16, for a total transaction of $2,150,368.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 551,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,783,900.64. This trade represents a 5.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 118,968 shares of company stock worth $8,842,821. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cowen lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $81.19.

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.