Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 244,373 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,664 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $18,086,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. 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 firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS 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 business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

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

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.