Providence First Trust Co Acquires New Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 1,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $96,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth $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 buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Planning Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $79.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.37 and a 200-day moving average of $73.54. 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 capitalization of $141.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $84.50.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results 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. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Partners decreased their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $86.33.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total transaction of $699,397.36. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares in the company, valued at $1,523,242.94. The trade was a 31.47 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

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.