Argent Trust Co Purchases 2,840 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Argent Trust Co increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 3.0%, acquiring an additional 2,840 shares, resulting in a total ownership of 96,269 shares valued at approximately $7.54 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Northern Trust Corp and UBS AM, have significantly increased their holdings in Charles Schwab, showcasing strong institutional interest in the stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.1%, and also announced a $20 billion share repurchase plan to buy back up to 11.6% of its stock.

Argent Trust Co grew its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 96,269 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,840 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $7,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,739,917 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,164,911,000 after buying an additional 1,864,286 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,842,544 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,098,497,000 after buying an additional 430,250 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,653,684 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $862,489,000 after buying an additional 2,511,082 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,056,953 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $865,538,000 after buying an additional 618,101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $814,545,000 after buying an additional 8,584,173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on SCHW shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $95.57 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $91.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1 year low of $61.15 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.73%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. 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 payout ratio is 29.03%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $911,711.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 39,154 shares in the company, valued at $3,524,251.54. The trade was a 20.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 304,726 shares of company stock worth $29,025,396. Company 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.

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