Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Purchases Shares of 100,000 The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 100,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $7,401,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 6,247 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $462,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,522 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $302,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Investors Asset Management of Georgia Inc. GA ADV now owns 4,763 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $832,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Frank C. Herringer sold 3,592 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.26, for a total transaction of $266,741.92. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 172,162 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,784,750.12. This represents a 2.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,380 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.32, for a total transaction of $268,101.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,818 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,586,123.76. The trade was a 5.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,412 shares of company stock worth $3,014,797 in the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $90.00 to $93.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $93.00 to $87.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Partners lowered their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.33.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.61 during trading on Friday, reaching $88.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,562,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,430,706. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $61.01 and a 52-week high of $88.87. The company has a market cap of $160.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.67, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.90. The firm's 50-day moving average is $78.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

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.