The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Purchased by Ascent Group LLC

Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 87,276 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,697 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $5,656,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 62.6% during the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Country Trust Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $82.76 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $147.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.96. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.97. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $59.61 and a 52-week high of $83.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.77 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 59,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,497.64. This trade represents a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 127,968 shares of company stock valued at $9,419,271. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Cowen lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $69.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $67.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $75.56.

Charles Schwab 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.