Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Purchases 2,777 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 535.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,296 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,777 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 595.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,212,461,000 after purchasing an additional 13,262,309 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,096,083,000 after purchasing an additional 9,749,728 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,422,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,954,248 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth $440,699,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $92.08 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $94.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.19. The company has a market cap of $167.15 billion, a PE ratio of 24.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $65.88 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its 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 19.30% 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 quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 11,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077 over the last 90 days. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SCHW. William Blair lowered Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $114.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.57.

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.