Entropy Technologies LP Makes New Investment in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 33,089 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,394,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Charles Schwab by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 69,360,233 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $4,771,985,000 after acquiring an additional 17,369,091 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 30,994,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,454,000 after acquiring an additional 1,219,015 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,627,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,281,584,000 after purchasing an additional 296,317 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $950,192,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,237,705 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $841,954,000 after buying an additional 560,110 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,482 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.46, for a total transaction of $402,707.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,449,251.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.46, for a total transaction of $402,707.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 60,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,449,251.82. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 5,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.51, for a total transaction of $413,870.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,567 shares in the company, valued at $4,573,414.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 568,709 shares of company stock valued at $42,577,554 in the last three months. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 5.3 %

NYSE:SCHW traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $63.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 42,867,780 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,660,202. The company has a market capitalization of $113.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.18. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $48.66 and a 12 month high of $79.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.42.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.25% and a net margin of 26.14%. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Charles Schwab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $76.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays lowered their target price on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $75.44.

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.