Veritas Asset Management LLP Takes $185.65 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Veritas Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,508,436 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $185,649,000. Charles Schwab comprises 1.7% of Veritas Asset Management LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Veritas Asset Management LLP owned 0.14% of Charles Schwab at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of SCHW. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake 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 worth $1,644,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,858,706,000 after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $110,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 186.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,138,033 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $158,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,392,255 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $86,845,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the 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 directly owns 827,377 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Partners dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.4 %

Charles Schwab stock traded down $1.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $79.01. The company had a trading volume of 16,317,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,375,240. 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 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.22. The firm has a market cap of $140.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

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.