Hedges Asset Management LLC Sells 10,500 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Hedges Asset Management LLC cut its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 52.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,500 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 10,500 shares during the period. Hedges Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $867,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the first quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.1% in the first quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.2% in the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $93.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $95.41 and a 200-day moving average of $86.81. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a one year low of $61.81 and a one year high of $99.59. The company has a market cap of $169.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on SCHW. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total transaction of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 590,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,265.63. The trade was a 34.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 298,214 shares of company stock worth $29,022,580 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.