Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,843 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 18.3% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 511,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,891,000 after purchasing an additional 79,166 shares during the period. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 22.0% in the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 10,496 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $680,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 27,882 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.8% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 176,520 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,440,000 after purchasing an additional 9,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.9% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 5,476 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $355,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 502,859 shares of company stock worth $41,161,496. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.55 on Wednesday, reaching $82.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,908,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,577,590. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $77.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.70. The company has a market capitalization of $146.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company 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.