Nicolet Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,174 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,541,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after buying an additional 23,383 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after purchasing an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 293.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 9,108 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.28.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $78.67 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.69. 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 firm has a market cap of $142.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 90 days, insiders have sold 513,081 shares of company stock valued at $41,903,066. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.