Calton & Associates Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,197 The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Calton & Associates Inc. has invested $250,000 in The Charles Schwab Corporation by acquiring 3,197 shares in the first quarter.
• Charles Schwab's board has approved a $20 billion share buyback program, allowing the company to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares, suggesting they believe their stock is undervalued.
• The company's recent earnings report showed $5.85 billion in revenue, an increase of 24.8% year-over-year, with an EPS of $1.14, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,197 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $250,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new position in Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% during the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were 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 owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,388,148.56. This trade represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total transaction of $594,800.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,265.63. This trade represents a 34.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock worth $29,022,580. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on SCHW. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 5.7%

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded down $5.55 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $92.09. The company had a trading volume of 18,234,685 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,922,571. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market cap of $167.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $61.16 and a 1-year high of $99.59. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.25.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. 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.