Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec Increases Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 83.1%, owning 633,880 shares valued at approximately $49.65 million.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation reported earnings of $1.14 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking a 24.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• Charles Schwab has announced a $20 billion share buyback plan as part of its strategy, indicating confidence in the company's valuation and stock performance.

Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec raised its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 83.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 633,880 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 287,642 shares during the quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $49,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $11,616,380,000 after acquiring an additional 19,817,022 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 8,954,248 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,440,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,365,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,384 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 5.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 595.7% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,212,461,000 after purchasing an additional 13,262,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

SCHW has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. This trade represents a 29.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock worth $29,022,580. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW traded up $1.43 on Thursday, reaching $97.65. 7,501,007 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,538,955. The company's 50-day moving average price is $95.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.25. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $177.26 billion, a PE ratio of 26.25, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to buy up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.