CenterBook Partners LP Buys 7,647 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

CenterBook Partners LP increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,424 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,647 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $1,289,544,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $717,898,000 after buying an additional 3,974,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,217,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock opened at $75.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.90 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.