2,640 Shares in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW Bought by Broadleaf Partners LLC

Key Points

• Broadleaf Partners LLC acquired 2,640 shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation, valued at approximately $207,000, marking its entry into the investment.
• Significant stake increases were seen from major investors like Vanguard Group Inc. (up 15.4%) and Wellington Management Group LLP (up 595.7%) in the first quarter.
• Charles Schwab authorized a $20 billion stock buyback program and recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, reflecting its positive financial outlook.

Broadleaf Partners LLC purchased a new position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,640 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter worth about $1,455,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 39,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,061,000 after acquiring an additional 4,754 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $92,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,858 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 248.3% in the 4th quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 112,376 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $8,317,000 after acquiring an additional 80,112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 163,007 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $12,760,000 after purchasing an additional 11,505 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total transaction of $17,185,903.84. Following the sale, the chairman owned 590,734 shares in the company, valued at $58,388,148.56. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,332,727.83. The trade was a 15.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 241,693 shares of company stock worth $23,488,848. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on SCHW. Redburn Atlantic upgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of SCHW traded up $1.11 on Tuesday, reaching $97.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,720,954 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,098,677. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.96. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $94.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $85.55. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The business 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 firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.