Empowered Funds LLC Buys 12,967 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 26.4%, acquiring 12,967 shares to reach a total of 62,040 shares valued at approximately $4.86 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Charles Schwab with a consensus price target of $99.60, while stock trading reports indicate a 1.8% increase in share prices recently.
• The company has announced a $20 billion stock buyback program, indicating management's belief that its stock is undervalued. Additionally, it declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 26.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 62,040 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 12,967 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $4,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 15.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,616,380,000 after buying an additional 19,817,022 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 12.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,422,795,000 after buying an additional 8,954,248 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 10.8% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,440,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,365,227,000 after buying an additional 1,700,384 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 16.0% in the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,115,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,339,822,000 after buying an additional 2,355,309 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Charles Schwab by 5.0% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,586,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,220,107,000 after buying an additional 743,906 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $93.90 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.36 and a 200-day moving average of $86.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12-month low of $61.16 and a 12-month high of $99.59. The company has a market capitalization of $170.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback 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 reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 590,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total transaction of $911,711.29. Following the transaction, the insider owned 39,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,524,251.54. The trade was a 20.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 298,214 shares of company stock valued at $29,022,580 in the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Charles Schwab

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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