The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 11.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,905,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 197,545 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned about 0.11% of Charles Schwab worth $141,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of SCHW. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chairman now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock worth $41,161,496 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE SCHW traded up $1.15 on Tuesday, hitting $81.49. 9,611,869 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,609,064. 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 $78.01 and a 200 day moving average of $72.57. 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 $145.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

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 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 33.44%.

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.