The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stake Raised by Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 331,785 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,298 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up about 3.3% of Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $24,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% in the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Redburn Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the company’s 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 5.1 %

SCHW opened at $77.28 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.25. The company has a market cap of $140.15 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1 year low of $61.01 and a 1 year 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.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

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.