Mystic Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Mystic Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,495 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after acquiring an additional 414,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,614,000 after purchasing an additional 445,304 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after purchasing an additional 265,708 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $77.80 on Tuesday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $78.54 and a 200 day moving average of $74.48. The company has a market cap of $141.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its 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. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.