First Business Financial Services Inc. Lowers Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

First Business Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 21.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,931 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,045 shares during the quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.7% in the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,358 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 62.6% in the third quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 387 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.3% in the third quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 6,648 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $431,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV now owns 49,537 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $3,210,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,361 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on SCHW shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $73.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.18.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 62,345 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.52, for a total transaction of $4,521,259.40. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 60,619,371 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,396,116,784.92. This trade represents a 0.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 29,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.16, for a total transaction of $2,150,368.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 551,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,783,900.64. This represents a 5.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 103,645 shares of company stock valued at $7,440,627. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 2.5 %

SCHW stock opened at $80.19 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $68.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $69.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $55.09 and a 12 month high of $82.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.42.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 39.06%.

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.