Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,271,724 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 205,662 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.07% of Charles Schwab worth $94,120,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $69.97 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $126.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.40, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.93.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted 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 business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders 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 1.54%. This is a positive change 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 is presently 36.12%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total transaction of $261,713.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 45,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,548,152.32. This trade represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.28.

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.