W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Grows Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 282,092 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 761 shares during the period. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 2.2% of W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $20,878,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 buying an additional 1,392,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth approximately $86,845,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock opened at $80.50 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $143.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. 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 Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen upgraded 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.