State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 588,043 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,541 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $43,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on SCHW. 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned 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 price target of $84.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value 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 trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock worth $41,161,496 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.32 on Monday. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.40. The stock has a market cap of $142.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 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 firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.