Scharf Investments LLC Invests $1.09 Million in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,765 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,093,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 38.8% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 24,103 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,776,000 after buying an additional 6,739 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $353,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Charles Schwab by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 6,172 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.0% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 304,322 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $19,723,000 after purchasing an additional 19,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 31,084 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,015,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $82.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $83.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $147.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.99.

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. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on SCHW. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Raymond James lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.11.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were 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 $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This trade represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.