National Pension Service Acquires 51,543 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,355,555 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,543 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned 0.13% of Charles Schwab worth $162,062,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Courier Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 45,539 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,133,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 41,855 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the period. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC now owns 14,872 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC grew its position in Charles Schwab by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 5,959 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.1 %

SCHW traded up $0.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $76.40. 5,189,835 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,574,732. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $46.55 and a 1 year high of $77.05. The firm has a market cap of $135.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $65.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.71 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $78.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.47.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total transaction of $518,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,917,608.36. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 24,520 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total transaction of $1,771,079.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 8,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.76, for a total value of $518,080.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,917,608.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 659,587 shares of company stock valued at $47,399,731 in the last 90 days. 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.