Keystone Financial Services Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Keystone Financial Services grew its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,685 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Charles Schwab accounts for about 0.5% of Keystone Financial Services’ holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Keystone Financial Services’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. increased 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 purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total transaction of $1,034,024.63. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,796,497.64. This represents a 17.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 502,859 shares of company stock valued at $41,161,496 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $89.00 to $93.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $94.00 price target (up previously from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.56.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

NYSE SCHW opened at $80.32 on Monday. 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 cap of $142.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.99. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $61.01 and a fifty-two week high of $84.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $78.03 and a 200-day moving average of $72.40.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $5.33 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 33.44%.

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.