Argent Trust Co Grows Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 93,429 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $6,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Norges Bank bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,289,544,000. FMR LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 69.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $717,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,974,940 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,716,000 after buying an additional 3,216,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake 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 during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Charles Schwab by 91.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,217,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $460,179,000 after buying an additional 2,962,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $1.61 on Thursday, reaching $73.64. The company had a trading volume of 789,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,202,960. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. 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 firm has a market cap of $133.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $91.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of 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, four have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.33.

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.