477,668 Shares in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Acquired by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 477,668 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $35,403,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,673,901 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $432,536,000 after buying an additional 38,201 shares during the period. United Bank boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,352 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,840.7% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,146 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 5,937 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 266.3% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 96,577 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,259,000 after purchasing an additional 70,211 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 80.7% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 3,018 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $69.07 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.73. The stock has a market cap of $125.26 billion, a PE ratio of 23.10, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This is a positive change from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.43, for a total transaction of $261,713.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 45,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,548,152.32. This trade represents a 6.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. 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 quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price objective (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup raised Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Barclays increased 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.94.

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.