Blair William & Co. IL Lowers Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Blair William & Co. IL lessened its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 39.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 863,837 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 566,974 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $67,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SCHW. Argent Trust Co lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 96,269 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $7,536,000 after purchasing an additional 2,840 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 3,029 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth about $202,000. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 80,094 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. This represents a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total value of $761,454.82. Following the transaction, the director owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,891.24. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 304,726 shares of company stock valued at $29,025,396. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Charles Schwab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Two 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 2.2%

Charles Schwab stock opened at $95.57 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.15 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.79.

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

Charles Schwab declared that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab Company 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.