Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance Takes Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Cardinal Strategic Wealth Guidance acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,024 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $81.13 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $144.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $78.00 and its 200 day moving average is $71.88. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.04.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total transaction of $755,996.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 442,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 47,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,731 over the last 90 days. Company 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.