Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Has $529.28 Million Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. has reduced its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 2.1%, now holding approximately 6.76 million shares valued at $529.28 million, making it the largest position in their portfolio.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share, and initiated a $20 billion share buyback plan, which reflects confidence in its stock's value.
• Charles Schwab's stock has shown strong performance, with a current price of $92.09, and has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts.

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. lowered its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,761,375 shares of the financial services provider's stock after selling 142,105 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab makes up approximately 9.6% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. owned about 0.37% of Charles Schwab worth $529,280,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkwood LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at approximately $24,256,000. Permanens Capital L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 16.1% during the first quarter. Permanens Capital L.P. now owns 54,528 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,268,000 after purchasing an additional 7,561 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 8.9% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 3,150 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Charles Schwab during the first quarter valued at approximately $21,169,000. Finally, Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 8.8% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 206,855 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $16,193,000 after purchasing an additional 16,663 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Charles Schwab news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $96.81, for a total value of $594,800.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 11,923 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,265.63. This represents a 34.01% 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, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 10,129 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.01, for a total value of $911,711.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 39,154 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,524,251.54. This trade represents a 20.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 298,214 shares of company stock valued at $29,022,580 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Charles Schwab stock traded up $0.21 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $93.66. 10,771,963 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,476,118. 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 company 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $95.29 and a 200-day moving average of $86.52. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 12 month low of $61.16 and a 12 month high of $99.59.

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

Charles Schwab declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, July 24th that authorizes the company to buyback $20.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. JMP Securities upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.60.

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.