Prudential PLC Boosts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Prudential PLC grew its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 38.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,487 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,223 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,483,000 after buying an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on SCHW. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total value of $261,713.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 45,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,152.32. This represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 7.7 %

SCHW stock opened at $69.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Charles Schwab Company 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.