Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Grows Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,711,312 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 1.61% of Charles Schwab worth $1,858,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,230,657,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,327 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,886,058 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $802,193,000 after buying an additional 225,397 shares during the last quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.0% in the second quarter. Allen Investment Management LLC now owns 8,712,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $642,014,000 after acquiring an additional 251,485 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 8.9% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 7,305,050 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $528,445,000 after acquiring an additional 596,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after acquiring an additional 38,201 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total value of $576,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 554,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,543,202.45. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christopher V. Dodds sold 9,284 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.43, for a total value of $755,996.12. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 442,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,057,774.01. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,929 shares of company stock valued at $8,196,624 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Cowen boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.18.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $80.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $55.42 and a 52 week high of $82.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $69.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

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.