Ridgewood Investments LLC Sells 605 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Ridgewood Investments LLC reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,283 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 605 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,455,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $92,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,858 shares during the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 248.3% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,317,000 after acquiring an additional 80,112 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 163,007 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $12,760,000 after acquiring an additional 11,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 199,687 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $15,631,000 after purchasing an additional 29,255 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Barclays boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities boosted 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. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $117.00 target price (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.65.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $97.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $176.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.93. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $61.15 and a 1-year high of $98.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $90.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.73%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 47,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total value of $4,201,850.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total transaction of $761,454.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 105,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,303,891.24. This trade represents a 7.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,313 shares of company stock worth $10,264,091 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.