Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $441,000 in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 5,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $441,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Realta Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2,238.7% during the fourth quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 725 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 104.8% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 774 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $80.07 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.14 and its 200 day moving average is $74.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $145.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for 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%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.