Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $414,000 Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 12.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,589 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 128,578,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,516,075,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187,384 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,901,484 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,279,742,000 after purchasing an additional 760,043 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 15.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased 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 valued at $1,513,894,000 after buying an additional 265,708 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,289,544,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 7.7 %

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $69.07 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $125.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day moving average of $75.81.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on SCHW. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Barclays boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.94.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.