GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 61,675 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,324 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 33.4% during the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $950,192,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake 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 worth $326,284,000 after buying an additional 2,322,156 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,472,698 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $651,722,000 after buying an additional 1,558,975 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 28,736.1% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 1,485,637 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $107,471,000 after buying an additional 1,480,485 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total value of $557,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 567,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,134,851.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Charles Schwab news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $557,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 567,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,134,851.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $66.26 per share, with a total value of $1,656,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $54,822,000.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 99,636 shares of company stock valued at $6,533,064. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several recent research reports. JMP Securities cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $71.00 price target (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.75.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $62.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.97. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $48.66 and a 1-year high of $79.49. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.