Liberty Wealth Management LLC Invests $46,000 in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Liberty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation, purchasing 63,821 shares valued at approximately $46,000 in the first quarter.
• Several hedge funds have increased their holdings in Charles Schwab, with Northern Trust Corp boosting its position by 13.4% and Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increasing its stake by 354.5%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, with a payout ratio of 29.03%, and announced a buyback plan to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares, signaling confidence in its valuation.

Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 63,821 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $46,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SCHW. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% during the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,817 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $612,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:SCHW traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $96.79. The company had a trading volume of 5,711,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,182,632. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $175.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.02. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.73%. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 EPS. On average, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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%.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has approved a share 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 purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Charles Schwab from $100.00 to $107.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, Director Paula A. Sneed sold 8,647 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.06, for a total transaction of $761,454.82. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 105,654 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,303,891.24. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $2,359,239.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 58,999 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,776,592.09. This trade represents a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 308,016 shares of company stock valued at $29,341,433 over the last ninety days. 6.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.