PFG Advisors Makes New Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

PFG Advisors bought a new position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in 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 worth $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $189,791,000. Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $185,649,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 1,711,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 186.7% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $158,236,000 after acquiring an additional 1,392,255 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 5.1 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $77.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.32.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Two equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.