EP Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 11,888 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,564 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 11,888 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 50,439 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,733,000 after acquiring an additional 11,677 shares during the last quarter. Crestline Management LP bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,044,000. Capital Advantage Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $600,000. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1,043.2% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 205,416 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $15,203,000 after purchasing an additional 187,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $798,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.84 on Tuesday, hitting $86.21. The stock had a trading volume of 9,551,718 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,413,777. The business has a 50 day moving average of $77.64 and a 200 day moving average of $78.02. The stock has a market cap of $156.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, 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 $87.00.

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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.25%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 32.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on SCHW. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $88.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Partners dropped their target price 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $74.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.61.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 464,629 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.91, for a total transaction of $38,057,761.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $67,770,450.07. This trade represents a 35.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 9,559 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 503,041 shares of company stock worth $41,072,558. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.