Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $209.93 Million Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC has reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 75.6%, selling over 8 million shares, and now owns approximately 1.1% of its portfolio in Schwab.
• Major institutional investors have made significant adjustments, with Vanguard increasing its stake by 15.4% to hold nearly 148 million shares, valued at over $11.6 billion.
• Charles Schwab announced a $20 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock valuation and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 75.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,681,809 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 8,324,072 shares during the period. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 1.1% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Charles Schwab worth $209,932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at approximately $930,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 94.2% in the first quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 98,081 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $7,678,000 after acquiring an additional 47,575 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 2.6% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 4,152,408 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $325,050,000 after purchasing an additional 106,556 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 20.0% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 12,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $939,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at approximately $383,510,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,524,251.54. This represents a 20.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 308,016 shares of company stock worth $29,341,433. 6.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Down 1.8%

Charles Schwab stock traded down $1.75 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $96.03. The company had a trading volume of 9,535,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,194,136. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm's fifty day moving average is $93.09 and its 200-day moving average is $84.91. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding 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 generally an indication that the company's leadership 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 paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.03%.

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.