2,950 Shares in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW) Bought by Physicians Financial Services Inc.

Key Points

• Physicians Financial Services Inc. has acquired a new stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation, purchasing 2,950 shares valued at approximately $231,000 during the first quarter.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, and saw a revenue increase of 24.8% year-over-year.
• The company has initiated a share repurchase program allowing for the reacquisition of up to $20 billion in shares, indicating a belief that its stock is undervalued.

Physicians Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 2,950 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the first quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,509,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Charles Schwab by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $99.00 price objective on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a report on Monday, June 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $889,280.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,332,727.83. The trade was a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 106,754 shares of company stock worth $9,480,253 in the last three months. 6.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE SCHW traded down $0.70 during trading on Thursday, reaching $97.87. The company had a trading volume of 3,709,389 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,172,993. The company's fifty day moving average price is $90.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.33. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.15 and a 12 month high of $99.59. The stock has a market cap of $177.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

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

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.03%.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors 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 repurchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign 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.