ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

ST. Nicholas Private Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,330 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 490,120 shares of company stock worth $40,127,472. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Redburn Partners lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased 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. Truist Financial increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock opened at $80.50 on Friday. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $77.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.02. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $143.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

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.