Synovus Financial Corp Increases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 46.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,889 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 21,377 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,358 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $347,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 57,434 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,722,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $431,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 49,537 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,210,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total value of $576,450.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 554,929 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,543,202.45. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. The trade was a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 127,968 shares of company stock valued at $9,419,271 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $95.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Cowen raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $79.75.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $3.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.54. 14,089,420 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,390,875. The firm has a market cap of $141.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.07, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $70.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $59.67 and a 52 week high of $83.35.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 16.92% and a net margin of 27.47%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.77 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

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.