Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. has increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 6.0%, owning a total of 6,904,327 shares, making it the 19th largest position in their portfolio.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation reported earnings of $1.14 per share, exceeding estimates and marking a year-over-year revenue increase of 24.8% with revenues of $5.85 billion.
• The company initiated a stock buyback program allowing for the repurchase of $20 billion worth of shares, indicating management's belief that the stock is undervalued.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,904,327 shares of the financial services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 390,644 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab comprises about 1.0% of Baird Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of Charles Schwab worth $540,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in SCHW. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,986 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 19,271 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $1,509,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,551 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Journey Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 4,486 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $351,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,192 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $485,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 84.38% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total value of $4,851,552.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul V. Woolway sold 3,290 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $96.06, for a total value of $316,037.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 41,188 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,956,519.28. This trade represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 295,009 shares of company stock valued at $28,717,464. Insiders own 6.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SCHW. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. TD Securities lifted their price target on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on Charles Schwab and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, William Blair lowered Charles Schwab from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Sixteen investment 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Price Performance

NYSE:SCHW traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $96.06. 7,231,003 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,887,014. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 52-week low of $61.16 and a 52-week high of $99.59. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $94.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.06. The company has a current ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $174.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. Charles Schwab's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

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