Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases 81,000 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 76.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 186,971 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $13,838,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,289,544,000. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $314,716,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216,000 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 91.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,217,799 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $460,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,962,878 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $189,791,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. The trade was a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total value of $745,282.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 513,081 shares of company stock worth $41,903,066 in the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $89.00 to $93.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.94.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock opened at $69.07 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $61.01 and a one year high of $84.50. The firm has a market cap of $125.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.73.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 EPS 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 company had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This is a boost from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.12%.

About Charles Schwab

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.