Hills Bank & Trust Co Has $1.46 Million Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,662 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,076,447 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $4,023,175,000 after purchasing an additional 414,949 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 30,141,441 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,945,614,000 after buying an additional 445,304 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,644,674,000 after buying an additional 3,157,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 20,455,266 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,513,894,000 after acquiring an additional 265,708 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $77.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $74.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.40%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup raised 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. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.