Caledonia Investments PLC Buys New Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Caledonia Investments PLC acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation, purchasing 501,000 shares valued at approximately $45.69 million, representing 4.5% of its investment portfolio.
• Insiders sold a total of >$25.9 million in company shares last quarter, including a significant sale by Chairman Walter W. Bettinger, who reduced his stake by 22.74%.
• Charles Schwab announced a $20 billion stock buyback plan, indicating that its board believes the shares are currently undervalued, alongside reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

Caledonia Investments PLC purchased a new position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 501,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $45,686,000. Charles Schwab comprises 4.5% of Caledonia Investments PLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $79,605,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 39,103 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,061,000 after purchasing an additional 4,754 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,181,563 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $92,493,000 after acquiring an additional 68,858 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 14.1% during the 1st quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 39,512 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 4,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 11,505 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was 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 represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the transaction, the insider owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. The trade was a 34.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 263,923 shares of company stock valued at $25,932,955 in the last quarter. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.00.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $96.74 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $175.60 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $95.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.28. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $62.41 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released 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. 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 analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Charles Schwab's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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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