Retirement Systems of Alabama Purchases 61,353 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,173,108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,353 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $86,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third 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 bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $33,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on SCHW shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.11.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock opened at $81.90 on Wednesday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $61.01 and a 52 week high of $83.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.36. 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 stock has a market cap of $145.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.44%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total value of $192,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. The trade was a 12.15 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 50,014 shares of company stock worth $4,052,281. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.