The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Stock Position Raised by Graham Capital Management L.P.

Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 248.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 80,112 shares during the period. Graham Capital Management L.P.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $8,317,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Knuff & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,309.3% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 606 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $1.24 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $86.61. 1,175,411 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,381,440. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $77.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.02. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $87.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $157.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 17th. The financial services provider reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $5.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, May 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 9th. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 32.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,770,450.07. This represents a 35.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.00, for a total transaction of $783,838.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 503,041 shares of company stock valued at $41,072,558. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Redburn Partners cut their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $87.61.

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.