Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Raises Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA raised its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,142 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $637,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 354.5% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $814,545,000 after buying an additional 8,584,173 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 69.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,700,013 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $717,898,000 after acquiring an additional 3,974,940 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Charles Schwab by 742.0% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,181,202 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $309,451,000 after acquiring an additional 3,684,640 shares in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $237,280,000. Finally, Farallon Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $234,538,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 20,872 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $1,878,688.72. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,310,499.99. The trade was a 26.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total value of $761,454.82. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 105,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,303,891.24. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 116,313 shares of company stock worth $10,264,091. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $97.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.88. The stock has a market cap of $176.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.93. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $61.15 and a 12-month high of $98.28.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.73%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on SCHW. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.65.

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.