Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Boosts Stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its stake in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 62.3%, acquiring a total of 493,400 shares valued at approximately $38.6 million.
• A significant number of institutional investors increased their holdings in Charles Schwab during the first quarter, with 84.38% of the stock now owned by these entities.
• Charles Schwab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.27 per share and initiated a $20 billion stock repurchase program, indicating confidence in its stock's valuation.

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 62.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 493,400 shares of the financial services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 189,400 shares during the quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $38,623,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Charles Schwab by 75.0% in the first quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 350 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. WFA Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 90.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 463 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $102.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Charles Schwab from $95.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Cowen reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Charles Schwab in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised 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. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Performance

SCHW stock traded down $1.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $95.91. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,829,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,885,997. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $94.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.83. The stock has a market cap of $174.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 0.96 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $5.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.64 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 19.30% and a net margin of 33.68%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a dividend of $0.27 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 29.03%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 50,016 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.00, for a total transaction of $4,851,552.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 6,144 shares of the 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 $1,154,265.63. This represents a 34.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 298,299 shares of company stock worth $29,005,931. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Charles Schwab 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.