Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Raises Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 91.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,217,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,962,878 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned 0.35% of Charles Schwab worth $460,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $77.79 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.36. The stock has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCHW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 8,614 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $689,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,936,320. This trade represents a 14.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.