Groupama Asset Managment Grows Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 10.3%, totaling 36,149 shares valued at approximately $2.81 million.
• Insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares for about $2.36 million, reducing ownership by 29%, while other insiders collectively sold over 260,000 shares valued at more than $25 million recently.
• Charles Schwab's recent earnings report showed a 24.8% year-over-year revenue increase to $5.85 billion, with an EPS of $1.14, surpassing estimates.

Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 10.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,149 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 3,368 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,813,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings 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. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in 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 valued at $1,096,083,000 after acquiring an additional 9,749,728 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 354.5% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 11,005,881 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $814,545,000 after acquiring an additional 8,584,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Charles Schwab during the 1st quarter valued at $440,699,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total transaction of $761,454.82. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,891.24. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 250,340 shares of company stock valued at $24,250,303. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Redburn Atlantic upgraded Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

SCHW stock traded down $0.1690 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $95.6510. 12,859,422 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,972,781. 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 company has a market capitalization of $173.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $99.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $93.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.34.

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, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Charles Schwab's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Charles Schwab's payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab Company 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.