Farallon Capital Management LLC Makes New $234.54 Million Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,169,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $234,538,000. Charles Schwab makes up 1.2% of Farallon Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Farallon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.18% of Charles Schwab as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SCHW. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth $1,289,544,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $814,545,000 after purchasing an additional 8,584,173 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 69.4% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $717,898,000 after purchasing an additional 3,974,940 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 742.0% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $309,451,000 after purchasing an additional 3,684,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 310.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,252,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $314,716,000 after purchasing an additional 3,216,000 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SCHW. Barclays decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $96.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $87.22.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.53. 5,909,955 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,413,142. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $77.48 and a 200 day moving average of $77.92. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $85.19. The company has a market capitalization of $153.30 billion, a PE ratio of 28.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is 32.73%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $783,838.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total value of $38,057,761.39. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 503,041 shares of company stock worth $41,072,558 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.