MetLife Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Position in The Charles Schwab Corporation $SCHW

Key Points

• MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in The Charles Schwab Corporation by 11.6%, acquiring an additional 46,793 shares, bringing its total share ownership to 448,982.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted their positions in Charles Schwab during the first quarter, with Wellington Management Group LLP increasing its holdings by 595.7%.
• The Charles Schwab Corporation approved a $20 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating that the board believes its shares are undervalued.

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCHW - Free Report) by 11.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 448,982 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 46,793 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $35,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Charles Schwab by 15.4% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. 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 valued at $6,422,795,000 after purchasing an additional 8,954,248 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,365,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700,384 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,220,107,000 after purchasing an additional 743,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in 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 worth $1,212,461,000 after buying an additional 13,262,309 shares during the period. 84.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Charles Schwab

In related news, insider Jonathan S. Beatty sold 2,850 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.57, for a total transaction of $249,574.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,332,727.83. This represents a 15.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Nigel J. Murtagh sold 24,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.91, for a total transaction of $2,359,239.36. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 58,999 shares in the company, valued at $5,776,592.09. This trade represents a 29.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 241,693 shares of company stock worth $23,488,848. 6.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SCHW has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. JMP Securities increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $106.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Charles Schwab from $117.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Redburn Atlantic raised Charles Schwab from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $102.00 price target on Charles Schwab and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.60.

Charles Schwab Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of SCHW traded up $1.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $97.30. 7,720,954 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,098,677. The Charles Schwab Corporation has a 1 year low of $61.16 and a 1 year high of $99.59. The firm's fifty day moving average is $94.16 and its 200-day moving average is $85.55. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $176.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.96.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 18th. The financial services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 24.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Charles Schwab Corporation will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, July 24th that permits the company to buyback $20.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the financial services provider to repurchase up to 11.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Charles Schwab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, August 8th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. Charles Schwab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.