Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Decreases Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 55.6%, owning 2,691 shares after selling 3,368 shares during the second quarter, with holdings valued at $246,000.
• The company's chairman, Walter W. Bettinger, sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab at an average price of $98.84, resulting in a transaction of over $17 million and reducing his ownership by 22.74%.
• Charles Schwab's Board of Directors authorized a $20 billion share repurchase plan, indicating a belief that the company's stock is undervalued, alongside a recent dividend declaration of $0.27 per share.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 55.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,691 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 3,368 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $11,616,380,000 after acquiring an additional 19,817,022 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $6,422,795,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,248 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 10.8% during 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. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.0% during the 1st quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,115,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,339,822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355,309 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $94.27. The stock had a trading volume of 14,854,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,421,421. 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 stock has a market cap of $171.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1 year low of $62.41 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $95.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.26.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $4,851,552.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,776,592.09. The trade was a 29.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 267,213 shares of company stock worth $26,232,180 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Zacks Research cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, William Blair cut shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.00.

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.