Plato Investment Management Ltd Boosts Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 42.7%, acquiring a total of 30,844 shares valued at approximately $2.44 million.
• Insider transactions indicate significant selling activity, with Chairman Walter W. Bettinger disposing of 173,876 shares for over $17 million and other insiders offloading 298,214 shares worth approximately $29 million in the last 90 days.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation reported a strong Q2 earnings performance with $1.14 EPS, exceeding estimates, and announced a $20 billion stock repurchase plan, signaling confidence in the company's valuation.

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 42.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,844 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 9,231 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $2,441,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 6,650.0% in the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 405 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,205 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.20, for a total value of $305,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 37,983 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,615,981.60. This trade represents a 7.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total value of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. This represents a 22.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock valued at $29,022,580. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of Charles Schwab stock opened at $92.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.56. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $99.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $167.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.79, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%.The business had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.73 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to reacquire up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JMP Securities upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays upped 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. Truist Financial upped their price target on Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $99.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Friday, July 18th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

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.

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