Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 10.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,340,816 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 158,113 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $98,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 98.0% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 4,691,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,284,000 after buying an additional 2,322,156 shares during the period. M&G Plc acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $11,452,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 10.4% during the first quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 190,597 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,788,000 after purchasing an additional 17,925 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.2% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,130 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 1,430 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 217.8% in the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 194,339 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $13,371,000 after purchasing an additional 133,186 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Walter W. Bettinger acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $66.26 per share, with a total value of $1,656,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at approximately $54,822,000.02. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, President Richard A. Wurster acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $62.05 per share, for a total transaction of $620,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president now owns 144,228 shares in the company, valued at $8,949,347.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Walter W. Bettinger purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $66.26 per share, for a total transaction of $1,656,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 827,377 shares in the company, valued at $54,822,000.02. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 99,636 shares of company stock worth $6,457,104 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $71.00 target price (down previously from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Charles Schwab from $91.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.75.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $65.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.93. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $116.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.97. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $48.66 and a 52-week high of $79.49.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $4.69 billion for 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 18.14%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.53%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.