FourThought Financial LLC Purchases 1,022 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

FourThought Financial LLC lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW – Get Rating) by 413.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,022 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $91,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 124,437,061 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,943,291,000 after buying an additional 2,589,952 shares in the last quarter. Dodge & Cox grew its position in Charles Schwab by 9.4% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 79,042,463 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,993,903,000 after acquiring an additional 6,803,282 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 65,566,364 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,712,255,000 after acquiring an additional 717,683 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 33,417,491 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,111,317,000 after acquiring an additional 851,066 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in Charles Schwab by 7.4% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 20,767,564 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,492,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Charles A. Ruffel sold 5,176 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.88, for a total transaction of $418,634.88. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $976,464.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, President Richard A. Wurster bought 2,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, March 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.39 per share, for a total transaction of $108,780.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president now owns 101,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,514,656.49. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Charles A. Ruffel sold 5,176 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.88, for a total transaction of $418,634.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $976,464.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders acquired 71,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,165,460 and sold 728,106 shares valued at $58,067,403. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $56.41 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $76.48 and its 200 day moving average is $76.60. The stock has a market cap of $101.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.93. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $45.00 and a 52-week high of $93.16.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $5.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.55 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.94% and a net margin of 34.60%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.86 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.1 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $60.00 in a report on Monday, March 13th. Credit Suisse Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $81.50 to $67.50 in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $75.00 in a report on Monday, March 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $97.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.04.

Charles Schwab Profile

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The Charles Schwab Corp. is a savings and loan holding company, which engages in the provision of wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. It operates through the Investor Services and Advisor Services segments. The Investor Services segment includes retail brokerage and banking services to individual investors, and retirement plan services, as well as other corporate brokerage services, to businesses and their employees.