Aigen Investment Management LP Buys 3,744 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Aigen Investment Management LP raised its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,317 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,744 shares during the quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after buying an additional 9,108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays upped 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 3.8 %

SCHW stock opened at $75.17 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.83. The company has a market cap of $136.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 491,200 shares of company stock valued at $40,206,950 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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.