Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 6,000 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Hennessy Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 66.7% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $274,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Charles Schwab by 9.5% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 29,654 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,580 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth about $208,000. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 1.9% during the second quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC now owns 55,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 7.9% during the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 102,401 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $9,343,000 after acquiring an additional 7,499 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 1.5%

SCHW opened at $94.13 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $95.37 and its 200-day moving average is $88.64. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $64.07 and a 1-year high of $99.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $170.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.97.

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 net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $4,851,552.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on SCHW. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Saturday, September 27th. William Blair lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.52.

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.