Clearbridge Investments LLC Purchases 1,888,426 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 86.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,062,247 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,888,426 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $300,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 509,701 shares of company stock worth $41,641,353 over the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $77.79 on Friday. 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 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year high of $84.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.36. The firm has a market cap of $141.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Morgan Stanley boosted 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 report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

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.