Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Takes $1.76 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 23,724 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,756,000. Charles Schwab makes up about 0.6% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during 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 purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.5 %

NYSE SCHW traded up $1.20 on Wednesday, hitting $78.87. 3,876,709 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,871,734. 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 50-day moving average of $79.52 and a 200 day moving average of $75.67. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. The company has a market capitalization of $143.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Remove Ads

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Redburn Partners dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their target price for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. 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, Citigroup raised Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.28.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chairman now 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 47,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 509,701 shares of company stock valued at $41,641,353 over the last quarter. 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.