Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 6,832 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 172,672 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,832 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $11,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $72.28 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $68.17 and its 200 day moving average is $62.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $45.65 and a 12 month high of $73.88. The stock has a market cap of $128.37 billion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 26.14%. The firm’s revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.07 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.84%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.29, for a total transaction of $587,610.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 585,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,198,371.53. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total value of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.