The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Acquired by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 79,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,750 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,903,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at $4,586,123.76. This trade represents a 5.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 501,087 shares of company stock worth $40,952,233 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. 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 note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Partners lowered their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $80.81 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.11. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $84.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (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 return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. 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. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.12%.

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.