Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 22,095 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 0.9%, selling 22,095 shares and now holds approximately 2,576,688 shares.
• Several institutional investors are increasing their positions, with notable purchases including Avior Wealth Management's 368.3% stake growth during the second quarter.
• Charles Schwab's stock is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $100.00, following various rating adjustments by analysts.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,576,688 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 22,095 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.4% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH owned approximately 0.14% of Charles Schwab worth $235,097,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the second quarter valued at about $226,000. WD Rutherford LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth about $53,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 368.3% during the second quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,280 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,124,000 after buying an additional 18,309 shares in the last quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 0.5% during the second quarter. Crown Oak Advisors LLC now owns 459,576 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $41,932,000 after buying an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.5% during the second quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 45,242 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,128,000 after buying an additional 1,105 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. William Blair cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 0.8%

SCHW stock opened at $95.52 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $62.41 and a twelve month high of $99.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.04.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%.The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Charles Schwab's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 41,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,956,519.28. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 267,213 shares of company stock valued at $26,232,180 in the last ninety days. 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.

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