Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Has $9.48 Million Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,112 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $9,482,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW opened at $78.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.38. The stock has a market cap of $140.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was 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 approximately $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock worth $39,938,849. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.