QRG Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 63.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,632 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 61,044 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,963,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $8,750,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,823 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.2% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $5,230,657,000 after buying an additional 2,946,327 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.1% during 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 buying an additional 1,219,015 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,281,584,000 after buying an additional 296,317 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $950,192,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $62.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,255,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,392,225. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $48.66 and a 1-year high of $79.49. The business has a fifty day moving average of $70.07 and a 200 day moving average of $69.97. The company has a market capitalization of $110.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.30% and a return on equity of 18.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 41.84%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 10,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $62.05 per share, for a total transaction of $620,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the president now directly owns 144,228 shares in the company, valued at $8,949,347.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 247,271 shares of company stock valued at $17,567,508. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $71.00 price objective (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $79.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.27.

About Charles Schwab

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.