Veritas Asset Management LLP Purchases Shares of 2,508,436 The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Veritas Asset Management LLP bought a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,508,436 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $185,649,000. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.7% of Veritas Asset Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Veritas Asset Management LLP owned 0.14% of Charles Schwab at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.4 %

SCHW opened at $80.16 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.78 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $78.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. 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. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on SCHW shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

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.