Wright Investors Service Inc. Purchases 4,001 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,164 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,001 shares during the period. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at about $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 29,991 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.80, for a total value of $2,033,389.80. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 81,446 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,522,038.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.49, for a total transaction of $257,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares in the company, valued at $2,425,533.39. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 216,584 shares of company stock worth $14,200,769. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock traded up $1.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $73.66. The company had a trading volume of 2,063,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,668,948. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.82. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $45.65 and a 1-year high of $73.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.82 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.49 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.36%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

Charles Schwab Company 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.