Virtu Financial LLC Takes $4.96 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 67,075 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $80.81. The company had a trading volume of 7,661,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,445,808. The company has a market capitalization of $146.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. 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 twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.11.

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Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Charles Schwab's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Redburn Partners cut 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 note on Friday, January 17th. Two research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was 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 $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.