ING Groep NV Invests $689,000 in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

ING Groep NV bought a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,807 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $689,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,739,917 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,164,911,000 after buying an additional 1,864,286 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 27.5% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,653,684 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $862,489,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511,082 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,056,953 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $865,538,000 after acquiring an additional 618,101 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 8,584,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Flossbach Von Storch SE raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch SE now owns 10,810,644 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $846,257,000 after purchasing an additional 76,568 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 47,500 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $4,201,850.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 58,999 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,776,592.09. The trade was a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on SCHW. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. William Blair downgraded Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. TD Securities raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on Charles Schwab and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $96.79 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $91.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.11. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $99.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $175.87 billion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted 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. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

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.