Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 79,481 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,331 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,481 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $33,322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 440 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hall Laurie J Trustee bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 71,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $4,628,977.74. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,251,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,980,704,959.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 71,226 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.99, for a total transaction of $4,628,977.74. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,251,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,980,704,959.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 16,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.94, for a total transaction of $1,047,976.60. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 61,331,688 shares in the company, valued at $3,921,548,130.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,800 shares of company stock valued at $20,823,609 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on SCHW. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $73.42 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.58 and its 200 day moving average is $63.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $130.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.01. The Charles Schwab Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.65 and a fifty-two week high of $73.88.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.84%.

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.