The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Position Lifted by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 114.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 49,073 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,231 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forbes J M & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $311,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 89.5% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,786 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 6,039 shares during the period. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 123,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,157,000 after purchasing an additional 2,042 shares during the period. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Mezzasalma Advisors LLC now owns 84,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,249,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 8,556 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the sale, the insider now owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This represents a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 47,514 shares of company stock valued at $3,859,731 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW opened at $82.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $146.59 billion, a PE ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.11. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.56.

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.