Veritas Asset Management LLP Buys Shares of 2,508,436 The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Veritas Asset Management LLP acquired a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 2,508,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $185,649,000. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 1.7% of Veritas Asset Management LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,523,242.94. This represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE SCHW opened at $80.16 on Tuesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.22. The stock has a market cap of $142.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

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

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 target price (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Company 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.