KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Makes New $39.86 Million Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 538,572 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $39,860,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its stake in 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 valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. 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 institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.1 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $78.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $142.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.72. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.