American Century Companies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 14.4%, owning approximately 3.47 million shares valued at $271.7 million.
• Charles Schwab's board authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares, indicating their belief in the stock's undervaluation.
• Analysts have upgraded their ratings for Charles Schwab, with JMP Securities raising the target price to $110, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's growth.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,471,307 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 437,351 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.19% of Charles Schwab worth $271,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 90.5% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total value of $316,037.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,956,519.28. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 308,016 shares of company stock valued at $29,341,433. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SCHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. JMP Securities raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW opened at $97.80 on Friday. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $177.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's fifty day moving average is $92.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.79.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

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.

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