Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 386 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,275 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 4.2% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,946,327 shares during the period. Darsana Capital Partners LP lifted its position in 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 valued at $221,070,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000,000 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2,617.6% during the third quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 1,707,771 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $110,681,000 after acquiring an additional 1,644,931 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $105,563,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 231.2% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 1,498,929 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $108,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,046,322 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:SCHW opened at $80.64 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 52-week low of $55.09 and a 52-week high of $82.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $68.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $69.62.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $4.78 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.12 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.24%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Carolyn Schwab-Pomerantz sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.05, for a total value of $576,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 554,929 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,543,202.45. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.02, for a total value of $192,550.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,391,674.38. This represents a 12.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 103,645 shares of company stock valued at $7,440,627. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. StockNews.com upgraded Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Charles Schwab from $63.00 to $61.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $76.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $74.18.

Charles Schwab 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.