Norges Bank Takes Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 17,423,916 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Norges Bank owned 0.98% of Charles Schwab as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 5,937 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,400,000 after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 9,108 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Remove Ads

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $689,120.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,204 shares in the company, valued at $3,936,320. This trade represents a 14.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 509,701 shares of company stock worth $41,641,353. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded down $1.81 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $77.79. The company had a trading volume of 6,456,732 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,853,143. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The company's 50 day moving average price is $79.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 36.12%.

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.