PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. Purchases Shares of 15,000 The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW)

Key Points

• PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. acquired 15,000 shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation, valued at about $1,174,000, during the first quarter of 2023.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively hold 84.38% of Charles Schwab's stock, indicating high institutional interest in the company.
• Charles Schwab's board has initiated a $20 billion stock buyback program, reflecting confidence in the company's valuation and financial health.

PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 15,000 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,174,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Charles Schwab by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 389,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,506,000 after purchasing an additional 24,700 shares in the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 20,775 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,626,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 20.9% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,679,441 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $131,467,000 after acquiring an additional 289,948 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the 1st quarter valued at $250,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 25.2% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,051,717 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $238,888,000 after acquiring an additional 613,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total value of $249,574.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,332,727.83. This represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 308,016 shares of company stock valued at $29,341,433. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW opened at $95.91 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $174.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 0.93 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $91.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.24.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

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