Cannell & Spears LLC Raises Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Cannell & Spears LLC lifted its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,273 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given 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 target price of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $77.66 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $140.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.98. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.67.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company 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 last year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS 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 paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 509,701 shares of company stock worth $41,641,353 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company 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.