Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $375,000 Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 40.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,072 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,465 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 230.1% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,546 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,483,000 after acquiring an additional 23,383 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 5,937 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 46.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 67,889 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,400,000 after acquiring an additional 21,377 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $688,000. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 293.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $903,000 after acquiring an additional 9,108 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on SCHW. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of SCHW opened at $71.40 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. 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 announced 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. 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were 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 $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 501,087 shares of company stock valued at $40,952,233. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.