Aviva PLC Purchases 411,437 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Aviva PLC boosted its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 75.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 959,934 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 411,437 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC owned about 0.05% of Charles Schwab worth $71,045,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Klingman & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the 4th 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 boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total transaction of $261,713.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 45,824 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,548,152.32. This represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW opened at $69.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.94.

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.