Advisory Alpha LLC Raises Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 34.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,120 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,308 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 58,979 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,058,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,691,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $326,284,000 after acquiring an additional 2,322,156 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,393,223 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $302,254,000 after purchasing an additional 857,734 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 22.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 883,379 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $60,776,000 after purchasing an additional 160,719 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,329,388 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,462,000 after purchasing an additional 152,967 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $89.00 to $81.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 31st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Bernard J. Clark sold 77,431 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.94, for a total transaction of $5,492,955.14. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,630,986.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Bernard J. Clark sold 77,431 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.94, for a total transaction of $5,492,955.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 121,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,630,986.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.41, for a total value of $705,690.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 574,257 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,027,491.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 658,663 shares of company stock valued at $48,997,146. 6.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $76.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 549,173 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,131,947. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $135.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $70.14. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $48.66 and a 12-month high of $79.49.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.71 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 26.14%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

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.