Diversified Enterprises LLC Decreases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Diversified Enterprises LLC lessened its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 5.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,075 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 173 shares during the quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.9% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on SCHW. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Zacks Research lowered Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. JMP Securities upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, William Blair cut Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $95.52 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $173.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.41 and a twelve month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.20, for a total transaction of $305,116.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,615,981.60. This represents a 7.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $2,359,239.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. The trade was a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 267,213 shares of company stock worth $26,232,180. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.