Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Takes $3.19 Million Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. has acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation, amounting to approximately $3.19 million for 40,726 shares, making it the 7th largest position in their portfolio.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Charles Schwab, with significant changes including a 380.5% increase by Brighton Jones LLC and new stakes purchased by Congress Wealth Management LLC and Allianz SE.
• Charles Schwab recently announced a $20 billion share repurchase plan, indicating management believes the stock is undervalued; they also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share.

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 40,726 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $3,188,000. Charles Schwab makes up about 4.8% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Charles Schwab by 380.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 19,195 shares during the last quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,026 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 9,246 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $684,000 after acquiring an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $634,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on SCHW shares. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $98.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In other Charles Schwab news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 10,176 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.39, for a total transaction of $889,280.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan M. Craig sold 47,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.46, for a total transaction of $4,201,850.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,313 shares of company stock valued at $10,264,091 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW opened at $97.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.88 billion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.93. The company's 50-day moving average is $90.52 and its 200-day moving average is $83.12. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.15 and a fifty-two week high of $98.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company 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 19.73%. The company's revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is 29.03%.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's management 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.

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