Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Increases Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 1.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,616 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 523 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $3,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. RMG Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Charles Schwab during the second quarter worth $27,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 97.9% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 386 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,956,519.28. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of Charles Schwab 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 267,128 shares of company stock valued at $26,232,077. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $94.17 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $65.88 and a twelve month high of $99.59. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.97.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.70.

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.