Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,387,681 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,395 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $370,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 26.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,775,952 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,634,700,000 after acquiring an additional 6,195,934 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 3.3% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,560,924 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $854,295,000 after purchasing an additional 502,304 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 2.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,550,474 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $853,721,000 after purchasing an additional 356,112 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.5% in the third quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 8,102,475 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $444,826,000 after purchasing an additional 42,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,317,044 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,706,000 after purchasing an additional 101,920 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.47.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total transaction of $413,870.31. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,573,414.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 4,977 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.01, for a total value of $348,439.77. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,702,034.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total transaction of $413,870.31. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,573,414.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 394,648 shares of company stock valued at $27,400,905. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $74.56. The stock had a trading volume of 5,743,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,707,918. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $69.68 and its 200 day moving average is $64.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.20, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $45.65 and a twelve month high of $75.55.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.84%.

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.