Madison Investment Advisors LLC Invests $71.16 Million in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 961,439 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $71,156,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $538,000. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 26,815 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,985,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares in the last quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 402.2% during the fourth quarter. Bowen Hanes & Co. Inc. now owns 595,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $44,105,000 after acquiring an additional 477,277 shares in the last quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 314,783 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $23,272,000 after acquiring an additional 11,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $363,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $74.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $78.42 and its 200 day moving average is $74.16. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. 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. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $1,181,690.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,931 shares in the company, 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 have sold 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen raised 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

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.