Keystone Financial Services Boosts Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Keystone Financial Services boosted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,277 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 823 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for about 0.6% of Keystone Financial Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Keystone Financial Services’ holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 15.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,422,795,000 after buying an additional 8,954,248 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,440,301 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $1,365,227,000 after buying an additional 1,700,384 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,115,759 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,339,822,000 after acquiring an additional 2,355,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,586,450 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,220,107,000 after acquiring an additional 743,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $95.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $173.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $94.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $65.88 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.26% and a net margin of 35.93%.The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is 25.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $4,851,552.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. This represents a 34.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 65,866 shares of company stock valued at $6,370,897. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SCHW. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $119.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Zacks Research lowered Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $99.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Friday, July 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.45.

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.