Northern Trust Corp Increases Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 10.8%, acquiring an additional 1,700,384 shares and bringing its total holdings to approximately 17.4 million shares.
• Charles Schwab recently approved a $20 billion share repurchase plan, indicating the company's belief that its stock may be undervalued.
• Analysts have issued a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Charles Schwab, with an average price target of $99.60, while a number of price targets have been raised by various investment firms.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 10.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,440,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,700,384 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.96% of Charles Schwab worth $1,365,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of SCHW. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 380.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 24,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 19,195 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Charles Schwab during the fourth quarter worth about $411,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,206,172 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $89,269,000 after acquiring an additional 79,082 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 125.6% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 87,013 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $6,440,000 after acquiring an additional 48,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The boosted its position in Charles Schwab by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 67,364 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $4,986,000 after acquiring an additional 5,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total transaction of $316,037.40. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 41,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,956,519.28. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the director directly owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,303,891.24. The trade was a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 250,340 shares of company stock worth $24,250,303 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on SCHW. TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Truist Financial boosted their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair lowered shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price target 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of SCHW stock traded up $0.2670 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $95.7770. The company had a trading volume of 5,068,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,993,837. The company's fifty day moving average is $93.54 and its 200 day moving average is $85.16. 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 Charles Schwab Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $61.16 and a fifty-two week high of $99.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $173.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96.

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 net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The firm had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Charles Schwab 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.