Ethic Inc. Raises Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 1.7%, bringing its total to 155,389 shares worth approximately $12.07 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Primecap Management, also reported significant increases in their stakes in Charles Schwab, indicating strong institutional interest in the stock.
• Charles Schwab recently announced a $20 billion share buyback program, signifying the company's belief that its stock is currently undervalued.

Ethic Inc. grew its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,389 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 2,591 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $12,069,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,864,286 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,586,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,220,107,000 after purchasing an additional 743,906 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% during the 1st quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,096,083,000 after purchasing an additional 9,749,728 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 2,511,082 shares during the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total value of $316,037.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 41,188 shares in the company, valued at $3,956,519.28. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,016 shares of company stock valued at $29,341,433 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities upped their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler upped 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. Barclays increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 2.3%

Charles Schwab stock opened at $97.80 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52 week low of $61.16 and a 52 week high of $99.59. The business's 50-day moving average price is $92.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.79. The firm has a market cap of $177.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 approved a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.

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