First Interstate Bank Cuts Stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

First Interstate Bank lowered its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 60,561 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 243 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 buying an additional 1,042,823 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 4.2% in the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 2,946,327 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,623,505 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,297,000 after purchasing an additional 292,155 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $950,192,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $841,954,000 after purchasing an additional 560,110 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock opened at $63.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $66.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $112.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.97. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $48.66 and a one year high of $79.49.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released 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. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 41.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 12,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total value of $802,032.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 562,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,594,597.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 12,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total transaction of $802,032.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 562,129 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,594,597.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Richard A. Wurster bought 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $62.05 per share, with a total value of $620,500.00. Following the purchase, the president now owns 144,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,949,347.40. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 107,800 shares of company stock worth $7,145,364 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

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.