Cooke & Bieler LP Has $202.68 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Cooke & Bieler LP lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,738,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 135,910 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab comprises 2.0% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $202,682,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.11. The company has a market capitalization of $129.49 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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 results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab 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.