Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 1,604 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. cut its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,199 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,604 shares during the period. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 0.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,963,133 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $8,750,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,042,823 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 72,306,560 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $5,230,657,000 after buying an additional 2,946,327 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in Charles Schwab by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 30,994,967 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,132,454,000 after buying an additional 1,219,015 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,627,667 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,281,584,000 after buying an additional 296,317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Charles Schwab in the fourth quarter worth about $950,192,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Bernard J. Clark sold 8,164 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $612,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,124,950. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 12,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.10, for a total transaction of $802,032.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 562,129 shares in the company, valued at $36,594,597.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Bernard J. Clark sold 8,164 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total transaction of $612,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,124,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 185,231 shares of company stock valued at $12,638,320 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $82.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $71.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $71.00 price target (down from $88.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Charles Schwab from $72.00 to $66.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reduced their target price on Charles Schwab from $85.00 to $82.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.00.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE SCHW traded up $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $64.39. 13,127,823 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,089,044. The firm has a market cap of $114.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $68.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12-month low of $48.66 and a 12-month high of $79.49.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.68 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.14% and a net margin of 26.30%. Charles Schwab’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.06 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.55%. Charles Schwab’s payout ratio is currently 41.84%.

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.