National Pension Service Acquires 465 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

National Pension Service increased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,812,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of Charles Schwab worth $208,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $79.01 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $140.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $78.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $73.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

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.