Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 194,324 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,804 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $14,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. 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 acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. KBC Group NV increased 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 purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,845,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $83.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.04. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.66. The firm has a market cap of $148.04 billion, a PE ratio of 27.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cowen upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total transaction of $192,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,014 shares of company stock valued at $4,052,281. Company 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.