Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Takes $2.10 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 28,368 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,100,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $5,123,000. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,219,000. Guardian Wealth Advisors LLC NC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Gotham Asset Management LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 30,613 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,266,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Charles Schwab by 248.3% during the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,317,000 after purchasing an additional 80,112 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.61 on Friday, hitting $88.72. The stock had a trading volume of 6,562,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,430,706. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.76 and a 200 day moving average of $78.36. The stock has a market cap of $160.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $61.01 and a 12-month high of $88.87.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $5.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 30.31% and a return on equity of 18.20%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $783,838.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 9,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.38, for a total transaction of $745,282.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 47,931 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,613,038.78. This represents a 17.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 38,412 shares of company stock worth $3,014,797. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on SCHW. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Redburn Partners reduced their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $94.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.33.

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.