The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW Stock Position Increased by Route One Investment Company L.P.

Key Points

• Route One Investment Company L.P. increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 3.1%, now holding approximately 3.37 million shares, which represents 11% of its total holdings.
• Charles Schwab reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.14, surpassing analyst expectations of $1.10, and also experienced a 24.8% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company's board has authorized a $20 billion stock repurchase program, allowing for the buyback of up to 11.6% of its shares, indicative of confidence in the stock's value.

Route One Investment Company L.P. grew its holdings in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,373,943 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab accounts for about 11.0% of Route One Investment Company L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Route One Investment Company L.P. owned approximately 0.19% of Charles Schwab worth $264,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SCHW. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 148,395,252 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $11,616,380,000 after buying an additional 19,817,022 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 595.7% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,488,777 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,212,461,000 after buying an additional 13,262,309 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 229.3% during the first quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,002,078 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,096,083,000 after buying an additional 9,749,728 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 12.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 82,048,984 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $6,422,795,000 after buying an additional 8,954,248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at about $440,699,000. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on SCHW shares. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic raised shares of Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $93.66. The company had a trading volume of 10,771,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,476,118. The firm has a market cap of $170.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.96. 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 Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $99.59. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $95.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $86.52.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The business had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 33.68% and a return on equity of 19.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

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

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total value of $594,800.64. Following the sale, the insider owned 11,923 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. The trade was a 34.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.84, for a total transaction of $17,185,903.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares in the company, 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 quarter, insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock valued at $29,022,580. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

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.