Hennessy Advisors Inc. Purchases 1,000 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the 1st 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position 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 worth $1,281,584,000 after acquiring an additional 296,317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth about $950,192,000. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $58,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at $1,355,175. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 12,320 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total value of $802,032.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 562,129 shares in the company, valued at $36,594,597.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 780 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $58,500.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,355,175. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 185,231 shares of company stock worth $12,638,320. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on SCHW shares. StockNews.com lowered Charles Schwab from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Barclays lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $71.00 target price (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $74.00.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.2 %

Charles Schwab stock opened at $64.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $68.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The Charles Schwab Co. has a twelve month low of $48.66 and a twelve month high of $79.49. The company has a market capitalization of $114.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. Charles Schwab’s revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.06 EPS for the current 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 $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.84%.

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.