MYDA Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 8,000 The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

MYDA Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $592,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 265,708 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $1,289,544,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on SCHW. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Redburn Partners dropped their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Barclays dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.78.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total value of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. This represents a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 502,030 shares of company stock valued at $40,988,118 in the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $1.29 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $77.87. 9,826,007 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,320,003. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $76.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.74. The company has a market cap of $141.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. 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 $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.01 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is 32.73%.

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.