Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 8,954,248 Shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 12.3%, owning approximately 82 million shares worth about $6.42 billion by the end of the last quarter.
• Insider sales from Charles Schwab included significant transactions, with Nigel J. Murtagh selling over 24,000 shares resulting in a 29% decrease in their holdings.
• Charles Schwab has received upgraded ratings from multiple analysts, with Wells Fargo setting a target price of $102.00 and the consensus price target now at $99.60.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,954,248 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for approximately 0.8% of Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 4.52% of Charles Schwab worth $6,422,795,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 75.0% during the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Charles Schwab during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Charles Schwab by 90.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 value of $761,454.82. Following the sale, the director directly owned 105,654 shares in the company, valued at $9,303,891.24. This represents a 7.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total value of $2,359,239.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,592.09. The trade was a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 250,340 shares of company stock valued at $24,250,303 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Monday, June 9th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $99.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Charles Schwab from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded down $0.1690 on Friday, hitting $95.6510. The stock had a trading volume of 12,859,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,972,781. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $93.85 and a 200 day moving average of $85.37. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a twelve month low of $61.16 and a twelve month high of $99.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $173.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last released 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. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%.The company had revenue of $5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 approved a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Charles Schwab Company 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.