Markel Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Markel Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,363,800 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Charles Schwab worth $100,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 4.3 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.44 and a 200 day moving average of $74.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on SCHW. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.