Essex Financial Services Inc. Boosts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 31.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,731 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,015 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Country Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth $26,000. American Capital Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 97.5% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 389 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $65.10 on Monday. 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 Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $48.66 and a 1-year high of $79.49. The stock has a market cap of $115.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $67.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.15.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.30% and a return on equity of 18.14%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.54%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.84%.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger purchased 25,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $54,822,000.02. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.96, for a total transaction of $557,640.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 567,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,134,851.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 107,800 shares of company stock worth $7,145,364 in the last 90 days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued 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 raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. 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 report on Wednesday, July 17th. JMP Securities dropped 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 research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.