Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Purchases New Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,856 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 0.8% of Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the third 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. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $158,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $74.58 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The stock has a market cap of $135.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.05. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast 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 paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SCHW. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.