Forsta AP Fonden Trims Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Forsta AP Fonden lessened its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.8% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 309,201 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 5,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $22,785,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 10,994 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $466,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 29,258 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,013,000 after buying an additional 8,022 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth $228,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter valued at about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. StockNews.com lowered Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $71.00 target price (down from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $74.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $62.05 per share, for a total transaction of $620,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 144,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,949,347.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.49, for a total value of $652,410.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 570,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,366,925.93. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Richard A. Wurster bought 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $62.05 per share, for a total transaction of $620,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 144,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,949,347.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 99,636 shares of company stock worth $6,533,064 over the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $63.41 on Thursday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $48.66 and a 52-week high of $79.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.08.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 41.84%.

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.