Hickory Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.30 Million Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,584 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,301,000. Charles Schwab comprises 1.1% of Hickory Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 59.5% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 2,753 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $204,000 after buying an additional 1,027 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 38,565 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,854,000 after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,905,316 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $141,012,000 after acquiring an additional 197,545 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $934,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This trade represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 512,143 shares of company stock valued at $41,917,493. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Redburn Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.32 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $61.01 and a 12 month high of $84.50. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.25. The firm has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 33.44%.

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.