The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Acquired by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $414,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 7.7 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $69.07 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day moving average of $75.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $125.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.94.

Charles Schwab Company 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.