Hills Bank & Trust Co Acquires 1,046 Shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW)

Hills Bank & Trust Co increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,813 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab in the third quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.4% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 4,930 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 345,888 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $18,989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,326 shares in the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 54,453 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,989,000 after buying an additional 6,105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.3% during the third quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 24,621 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 65,790 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $5,026,356.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 60,906,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,653,270,810.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 29,991 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.80, for a total transaction of $2,033,389.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 81,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,522,038.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Charles R. Schwab sold 65,790 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.40, for a total transaction of $5,026,356.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 60,906,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,653,270,810.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 659,587 shares of company stock worth $47,399,731 in the last quarter. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on SCHW shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $68.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $86.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. StockNews.com raised Charles Schwab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $74.47.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE SCHW traded down $0.71 during trading on Thursday, reaching $75.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,788,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,558,584. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 0.43 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $71.42 and a 200 day moving average of $65.23. The Charles Schwab Co. has a one year low of $46.55 and a one year high of $77.05.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last announced its earnings results on Monday, April 15th. The financial services provider reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 19.86%. The business had revenue of $4.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.71 billion. Analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, May 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is 41.84%.

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.