Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Raises Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 520,038 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,251 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $35,779,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Providence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 2.6 %

SCHW opened at $73.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $129.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $67.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $62.75. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $45.65 and a one year high of $73.65. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 17th. The financial services provider reported $0.68 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 return on equity of 19.86% and a net margin of 26.14%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.4 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, February 9th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $65.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 4,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 37,611 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,425,533.39. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total value of $1,047,976.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,331,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,921,548,130.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 216,584 shares of company stock valued at $14,200,769 over the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.