Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 25,600 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund raised its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 285,360 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $21,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $158,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 490,120 shares of company stock worth $40,127,472. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $80.50 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a PEG 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 has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.98 and a 200 day moving average of $73.02.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 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.