Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 1,888,426 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 86.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,062,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,888,426 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 0.23% of Charles Schwab worth $300,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $77.79 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $79.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.36.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.