Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Acquires 1,452,719 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 96.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,951,680 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 1,452,719 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.16% of Charles Schwab worth $231,058,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,455,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 637,957 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $47,674,000 after acquiring an additional 43,308 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 49.6% in the 4th quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 16,316 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,208,000 after acquiring an additional 5,413 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,438,852 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $772,579,000 after acquiring an additional 60,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 217.0% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 48,350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,578,000 after purchasing an additional 33,100 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Charles Schwab stock traded down $0.20 on Thursday, reaching $88.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,627,663 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,371,279. The business's fifty day moving average price is $82.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $79.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $160.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.94. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $61.01 and a twelve month high of $89.85.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.60 billion for 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 earned $0.74 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 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, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 9th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 9th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 32.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Citigroup raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.68, for a total transaction of $288,467.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,433,022.72. The trade was a 7.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total value of $266,741.92. Following the transaction, the director now owns 172,162 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,784,750.12. This trade represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,608 shares of company stock valued at $8,392,040. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab 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.