Everence Capital Management Inc. Grows Holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 10.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 35,040 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,260 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 24,261,234 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,644,674,000 after acquiring an additional 3,157,923 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Darsana Capital Partners LP now owns 3,000,000 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $221,070,000 after buying an additional 2,000,000 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 28,679,305 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,858,706,000 after buying an additional 1,711,312 shares in the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% in the 3rd quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $110,681,000 after buying an additional 1,644,931 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $86,845,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,300 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.01, for a total value of $188,623.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,481,838.69. This trade represents a 11.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 12,739 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.17, for a total value of $1,034,024.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 59,092 shares in the company, valued at $4,796,497.64. The trade was a 17.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 118,968 shares of company stock valued at $8,842,821 over the last ninety days. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $74.11. 1,213,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,457,095. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.89 billion, a PE ratio of 28.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.96. The business has a 50-day moving average of $77.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.63. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52 week low of $59.67 and a 52 week high of $83.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 27.47% and a return on equity of 16.92%. The company had revenue of $4.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.78 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is presently 39.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Barclays raised Charles Schwab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $74.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $80.50.

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.