Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 2.2%, holding 3,917,265 shares, valued at approximately $357.4 million.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation has been approved for a $20 billion stock buyback plan, indicative of the board's belief that its stock is undervalued.
• Charles Schwab reported a net margin of 35.93% in its latest earnings, with revenue up 26.6% year-over-year, totaling $6.14 billion for the quarter.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 2.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,917,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 83,750 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Charles Schwab worth $357,411,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in 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 worth $11,616,380,000 after purchasing an additional 19,817,022 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in 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 worth $6,422,795,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,248 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 10.8% during the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 17,440,301 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,365,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,384 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 16.0% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 17,115,759 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,339,822,000 after purchasing an additional 2,355,309 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Charles Schwab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,586,450 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $1,220,107,000 after purchasing an additional 743,906 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Charles Schwab

In other news, Chairman Walter W. Bettinger sold 173,876 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman directly owned 590,734 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $58,388,148.56. The trade was a 22.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $4,851,552.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 267,128 shares of company stock worth $26,232,077 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW stock opened at $95.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $172.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.55. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1-year low of $65.88 and a 1-year high of $99.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.18.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $1.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.93 billion. Charles Schwab had a net margin of 35.93% and a return on equity of 21.26%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 26.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Charles Schwab declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, July 24th that allows the company to repurchase $20.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SCHW shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $114.00 price target on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. William Blair downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on shares of Charles Schwab from $109.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Charles Schwab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.00.

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.

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