The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) is Provident Trust Co.'s 8th Largest Position

Provident Trust Co. lifted its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,646,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 322,390 shares during the period. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 6.0% of Provident Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Provident Trust Co. owned about 0.26% of Charles Schwab worth $343,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Planning increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 511,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $31,891,000 after buying an additional 79,166 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,296 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $927,000 after buying an additional 1,433 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 19,517 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,265,000 after buying an additional 5,813 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,615 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,803,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $116,868,000 after buying an additional 55,535 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total transaction of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,481,838.69. The trade was a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 490,120 shares of company stock worth $40,127,472. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded down $1.33 on Friday, hitting $80.50. 9,855,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,402,950. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $77.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.95. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $143.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

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.