Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC Sells 8,203 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 33.5%, selling 8,203 shares during the 1st quarter, leaving them with 16,264 shares valued at approximately $1.27 million.
• Chairman Walter W. Bettinger and insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold a total of 197,972 shares of Schwab stock in late July, reflecting significant decreases in their ownership percentages.
• Charles Schwab has authorized a $20 billion share repurchase program, indicating confidence in their stock's valuation, alongside a quarterly dividend announcement of $0.27 per share.

Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 33.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,264 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,203 shares during the quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 53.1% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 487 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded down $0.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $95.91. 7,260,222 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,161,237. The company has a market capitalization of $174.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $99.59. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $91.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.24.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.73% and a net margin of 33.68%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

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

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,332,727.83. The trade was a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares in the company, valued at $3,956,519.28. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.