Azora Capital LP Trims Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Azora Capital LP lowered its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) by 68.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 507,207 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 1,112,376 shares during the period. Charles Schwab accounts for 2.1% of Azora Capital LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Azora Capital LP’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $46,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,182,081 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $13,793,853,000 after buying an additional 2,786,829 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,422,795,000 after acquiring an additional 8,954,248 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 72,464,619 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $6,611,672,000 after acquiring an additional 531,329 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.9% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 37,381,183 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $3,399,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,038,376 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.8% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 30,035,937 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,740,479,000 after purchasing an additional 815,625 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SCHW. Zacks Research cut Charles Schwab from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $114.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $110.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $107.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.33, for a total transaction of $299,122.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,245,830.74. The trade was a 8.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 3,072 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.00, for a total transaction of $301,056.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,168,454. The trade was a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE SCHW opened at $94.17 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.58 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 21.02% 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 28th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.29%.

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.