Carnegie Investment Counsel Boosts Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 79.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 819,853 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 364,194 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 1.4% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $60,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth $1,455,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,858 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 248.3% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,317,000 after acquiring an additional 80,112 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 163,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $12,760,000 after acquiring an additional 11,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 17.2% in the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 199,687 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $15,631,000 after acquiring an additional 29,255 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW traded up $1.39 on Thursday, reaching $96.54. 9,042,432 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,724,406. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.15 and a 12 month high of $97.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.64. The stock has a market cap of $175.41 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.93.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The firm's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is 29.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,332,727.83. The trade was a 15.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total value of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 116,313 shares of company stock worth $10,264,091. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.65.

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.