Avity Investment Management Inc. Takes $201,000 Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Avity Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,200 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $201,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,509,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,192 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $485,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. William Blair cut Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.5%

Charles Schwab stock opened at $93.50 on Monday. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $61.81 and a twelve month high of $99.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $169.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 1.2%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $4,851,552.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.20, for a total value of $305,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,983 shares in the company, valued at $3,615,981.60. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock valued at $29,022,580. Insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

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.